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BOUNDED  BY  JOHN  D.  ROCKEFELLER 


A  New  Theory  Concerning  the 
Origin  of  the  Miracle  Play 


A  DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL  OF  ARTS  AND 

LITERATURE  IN  CANDIDACY  FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF 

DOCTOR   OF   PHILOSOPHY 

(department    of    ENGLISH) 


BY 
GEORGE  RALEIGH  COFFMAN 


iMENASHA,    WIS. 

Cite  (Hallf^intt  T^xtsa 

GEORGE    BANTA    PUBLISHING    CO. 

1914 


®l|p  llnittprattij  of  Ollitra^n 

FOXTODED  BY  JOHN  D.  ROCKEFELLER 


A  New  Theory  Concerning  the 
Origin  of  the  Miracle  Play 


A  DISSERTATION 

SUBMITTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF  THE  GRADUATE  SCHOOL  OF  ARTS  AND 

LITERATURE  IN  CANDIDACY  FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF 

DOCTOR   OF    PHILOSOPHY 

(department    of    ENGLISH) 


BY 
GEORGE  RALEIGH  COFFMAN 


MENASHA,    WIS. 

Cite  Cullegiate  l^xsss 

GEORGE    BANTA    PUBLISHING    CO. 

1914 


CONTENTS 


Chapter  I,  Definition i 

Chapter  II,  Analysis  of  Traditional  Theories 

The  Theory  of  Evolution 9 

The  Farced  Epistle  Theory 13 

The  School  Saints'  Theor}'- 17 

Chapter  III,  The  Mediaeval  Point  of  View 

Prefatory    24 

The  Cult  of  the  Saints 25 

Pilgrimages  to  Saints'  Tombs 30 

Festivals  of  Saints 32 

Mediaeval  Monasteries 37 

The  Mediaeval  Renaissance 40 

Chapter  IV,  St.  Nicholas  and  His  Miracle  Plays 

The  Cult  of  St.  Nicholas 45 

Significance  of  the  Evidence 49 

Origin  of  the  Miracle  Play 58 

Chapter  V,  The  Resurrection  of  Lazarus,  and  the  Con- 
version of  St.  Paul 

The  Resurrection  of  Lazarus 67 

The  Conversion  of  St.  Paul 70 

Chapter  VI,  St.  Catherine  and  Her  Play 72 

Summary  of  Evidence 79 


PREFACE 

It  was  my  original  plan  in  this  problem  relating  to  the  early 
Miracle  Play,  (i)  to  make  a  critical  inquiry  into  the  various 
theories  advanced  concerning  its  origin,  (2)  to  study  the  influences 
which  led  to  the  formation  of  saints'  plays,  (3)  to  reconstruct  the 
lost  St.  Catherine  play  performed  at  Dunstable,  England,  before 
1119,(4)  to  study  the  early  St.  Nicholas  plays  in  relation  to  con- 
temporary school  plays,  and  (5)  to  examine  later  records  and 
Miracle  Plays  in  England  to  show  that  contrary  to  the  statements  of 
some  historians  of  the  drama  the  type  persisted  there  and  did  not 
give  its  name  to  the  cyclic  and  other  religious  plays.  My  study  of 
the  first  of  these  propositions  in  relation  to  the  second  and  third 
led  me  to  reject  the  current  theories  and  to  propose  in  detail  the 
one  summarized  in  the  closing  pages  of  this  dissertation.  This  re- 
sulted in  a  necessary  subordination  of  the  fourth  and  a  complete 
exclusion  of  the  fifth.  These  I  expect  to  make  subjects  for  further 
investigation.  Dr.  Weydig's  dissertation,  Beitrdge  cur  Geschichte 
des  Mirakelspiels  in  Frankreich,  necessitated  my  devoting  an 
initial  chapter  to  an  analysis  and  rejection  of  his  definition  of 
Miracle  Play,  and  to  the  establishing  of  another  as  the  basis  for 
my  work. 

In  a  word,  the  thesis  of  this  dissertation  is  that  circumstances 
and  conditions  of  the  eleventh  century  explain  the  origin  of  the 
Miracle  Play,  not  only  as  to  its  type,  but  also  as  to  its  form  and 
spirit.  In  this  connection,  I  wish  to  acknowledge  my  indebtedness 
to  Professor  Joseph  Bedier,  whose  studies  on  the  origins  of  the 
Chanson  de  Geste  (e.  g.,  Les  Legendes  Epiques)  have  influenced 
very  greatly  my  method  of  investigation,  and  whose  thesis  I  have 
just  now  paraphrased  to  fit  my  particular  problem.  Professor  Karl 
Young  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin  kindly  read  my  dissertation 
last  summer  and  gave  many  helpful  suggestions.  It  is  a  pleasure 
also  to  express  my  thanks  to  Professor  J.  W.  Thompson  of  the 
History  Department  of  the  University  of  Chicago  for  suggesting 
some  of  the  material  in  the  third  chapter.  To  Professor  Karl 
Pietsch  of  the  Romance  Department  I  am  grateful  for  constant 
helpfulness  relative  to  mediaeval  materials.  I  am  obliged  to  Pro- 
fessors C.  R.  Baskervill,  A.  H.  Tolman,  T.  A.  Knott,  and  R.  M. 


VI  INTRODUCTION 

Lovett,  and  to  my  colleague,  Professor  G.  F.  Reynolds,  for  their 
kindness  in  reading  my  dissertation  in  manuscript.  I  appreciate 
too  the  co-operation  of  Miss  Gettys  of  the  University  library,  who 
secured  for  me  books  from  other  libraries.  And  finally  I  wish 
especially  to  thank  Professor  J.  M.  Manly  for  suggesting  the  study 
and  thereby  opening  a  rich  field  for  further  investigation,  for  the 
use  of  his  books  and  unpublished  notes,  and  for  his  invaluable 
criticism  and  unwearied  encouragement;  to  Professors  Manly  and 
G,  L.  Kittredge  I  owe  much  for  inspiring  in  me  a  love  for  the  life 
and  literature  of  the  middle  ages. 

For  the  convenience  of  the  reader  I  have  added  at  the  close 
a  special  index  to  bibliographical  matter  cited  in  the  footnotes. 

Missoula,  Montana,  December  15,  1914. 


CHAPTER  I. 
Definition 

In  the  present  study  I  purpose  to  discuss  the  origin  of  the 
Miracle  Play.     At  the  outset  I  shall  briefly  define  the  type.^ 

As  a  prefatory  suggestion,  an  important  fact  to  remember  is 
that  the  type  to  be  defined  became  a  popular  fashion  in  dramatic 
literature  during  the  middle  ages.  Hence  one  must  guard  against 
considering  as  the  type  special  plays  which  are  included  within  it. 
It  is  essential,  further,  in  defining  this  term  to  make  a  clear  and 
logical  distinction  between  miracle  (Lat.  miraculum,  Fr.  miracle) 
referring  only  to  the  content  of  mediaeval  literary  productions,  and 
miracle  referring  to  the  dramatic  form  as  well  as  to  the  content. 

In  a  recent  dissertation  upon  the  history  of  the  Miracle  Play 
in  France,  Dr.  Otto  Weydig  proposes  a  definition  which  demands 
our  attention,  for  it  illustrates  the  failure  to  observe  the  principles 
just  stated.  The  definition  which  he  proposes  is  as  follows:  The 
Miracle  Play  is  the  dramatic  development  of  a  general,  human  event 
whose  tragic  conflict  is  brought  to  a  solution  through  the  divine 
appearance  and  miraculous  intervention  of  a  saint  -. 

A  limitation  which  he  makes  to  certain  particular  saints  will 
be  mentioned  and  considered  a  little  later.  The  method  by  which 
he  arrives  at  his  definition  is  that  of  collecting  illustrations  of  the 
use  of  the  word  miracle  in  connection  with  the  presentation  of 
mediaeval  plays,  and  giving  an  uncritical  interpretation  to  these 
examples.     An  analysis  of  his  citations  will  make  this  clear. 

The  first  example  which  he  gives  us  is  from  the  Fleury  group 
of  St.  Nicholas  plays.  It  is  in  the  opening  sentence  of  the  argument 
preceding  the  third  play,  and  reads  thus :  "Aliud  miraculum  de 
sancto  Nicolao  et  quodam  Judaeo,  etc."^ 

^Historians  of  the  drama  have  confused  greatly  the  actual  use  of  this 
term  in  England  down  to  the  Elizabethan  period.  A  critical  inquiry  into  such 
usage  is  much  needed,  but  is  aside  from  the  purpose  of  this  dissertation. 
However,  I  hope  soon  to  complete  and  publish  such  a  study. 

^Beitrdge  zur  Geschichte  des  Mirakelspiels  in  Frankreich.  Das  Niko- 
lausmiraket  (Jena  Diss.,  Erfurt,  1910),  pp.  9-10:  "Das  Mirakelspiel  ist  die 
dramatische  Entwicklung  einer  allgemein  Begebenheit,  deren  tragischer 
Konflikt  durch  das  meist  iiberirdische  Erscheinen  eines  Heiligen  (resp.  der 
Jungfrau  Maria)  und  dessen  Eingreifen  zur  Losung  gebracht  wird." 

^E.  Du  Meril,  Les  Origines  Latines  du  Theatre  Moderne  (1897),  p.  286, 
note.* 


NEW  THEORV  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

Dr.  Weydig''  cites  this  as  an  early  and  definite  reference  to 
miracle,  meaning  dramatic  form.  But  compare  with  his  illustration 
the  following  from  the  table  of  contents  in  the  Legendarium  Aiistri- 
aciim,  relative  to  the  life  of  St.  Nicholas :  "Miraculum  de  Adeodato 
puero,"  "Miraculum  de  vase  aureo,"^  or  with  this  from  the  cata- 
logue of  saints"  material  in  manuscripts  in  the  Ambrosian  library : 
"De  beato  Nicholao  miracula",^  or  with  this,  relative  to  St.  Cath- 
erine, taken  from  a  similar  catalogue  of  the  Brussels  royal  library: 
"Aliud  miraculum  de  reliquiis  beatae  Katherinae  in  mare  projectis 
sed  per  angelum  collectis.'"' 

Now  no  one  would  think  of  arguing  that  these  are  references 
to  miracle  plays,  yet  they  are  of  •  exactly  the  same  kind  as  Dr. 
Weydig's  example.  The  word  miracle  in  all  these  cases  indi- 
cates, not  the  type  or  dramatic  form,  but  only  the  content  of  the 
matter. 

Dr.  Weydig's  second  example  is  as  far  from  the  point  as  the 
first;    and    his    interpretation    is    fully    as    uncritical.     He    calls 
attention   to  Jean   Bodel's   use   of   the   word   miracle   in   his   pro- 
logue to  "Li  Jeus  de  S.   Nicolai"    (vv.    108-111)  : 
"Car  canques  vous  nous  verres  faire 
Sera  essamples  sans  douter 
Del  miracle  representer 
Ensi  con  je  devise  1  'ai." 

He  regards  this  as  showing  that,  although  Jean  Bodel  called 
his  drama  "Li  Jeus  de  S.  Nicolai,"  "jeus"  was  employed  only 
in  the  sense  "par  personnages,"  while  the  actual  title  was  miracle.^ 

■"See  Wedig,  p.  4. 

^  Analecta  Bollandiana,  Vol.  XVII  (1898),  p.  209.  In  this  and  the 
following  cases,  examples  could  be  multiplied  almost  indefinitely. 

-Ibid.,  XII  (1892),  p.  352. 

~' Catal.  Codd.  Hagiog.  Bibl.  Reg.  Bruxcl.  (1886),  p.  166.  Take  also  the 
use  of  the  word  miracle  in  the  farced  epistle  for  the  feast  of  St.  Stephen 
(Du  Meril,  op.  cit.,  p.  411)  : 

Saint   Esteinvres  pleins  de  bonte 


einz  a  la  peuple  doctrine 
et  par  miracles  demonstre 
cement  il  vienge  a  sauvete. 
•  Op.  cit.,  p.  8. 


DEFINITION  3 

Here,  again,  critical  analysis  shows  that  the  important  and 
characterizing  word,  which  refers  to  the  dramatic  form,  is  not 
miracle  but  representer.  This  becomes  evident  if  one  compares 
it  with  the  verbs  livre,  chantier,  and  reciter  in  a  passage,  simi- 
lar in  significance,  from  Wace's  life  of  St.  Nicholas.  They  occur 
at  the  close  of  Wace's  account  of  the  miracle  in  which  St. 
Nicholas  restores  to  life  three  scholars  murdered  by  an  inn- 
keeper (vv.  226-229)  :® 

"Por  ceo  que  as  clers  fist  tiel  honor 

Font  li  clerc  feste  a  icel  jor, 

De  bien  lirre,  de  bien  chantier 

E  des  miracles  recitier." 
Thus  miracle  in  Jean  Bodel,  as  well  as  in  Wace,  refers,  not  to 
the  dramatic  form  of  the  entertainment,  but  to  the  superhuman 
act  of  St.  Nicholas. ^° 

The  next  two  examples  which  I  take  from  Dr.  Weydig  are 
like   in   kind   to  those   just   given,    the   principal   difference  being 

^  La  Vie  de  Saint  Nicholas,  ed.,  Dr.  N.  Delius,  (Bonn,  1850). 

"A  ncytable  error  of  the  same  kind  as  this  one  which  Dr.  Weydig  makes, 
occurs  in  Creizenach's  interpretation  of  the  word  miraculorum  in  an  extract 
from  the  Lichfield  statutes  {Lichfield  Statutes  of  Hugh  de  Nonant,  1188-1198; 
quoted  by  E.  K.  Chambers,  The  Mediaeval  Stage  (1903),  Vol.  II,  p.  377)  : 
"Item  in  nocte  Natalis  representacio  pastorum  fieri  consueuit  et  in  diluculo 
Paschae  representacio  Resurreccionis  dominicae  et  representacio  peregrinorum 
die  lunae  in  septimana  Paschae  sicut  in  libris  super  hijs  ac  alijs  compositis 

continetur De  officio  succentoris et  providere  debet 

quod  representacio  pastorum  in  nocte  Natalis  domini  et  miraculorum  in  nocte 
Paschae  et  die  lunae  in  Pascha  congrue  et  honorifice  fiant."  Professor  Creize- 
nach  (Geschichte  des  neiicren  Dramas'  (igii),  Vol.  i,  p.  159)  in  a  footnote 
to  the  following,  cites  this  as  a  case  of  loose  usage :  "Im  iibrigen  mtissen  wir, 
wenn  in  den  Quellen  von  Mirakelspielen  die  Rede  ist,  uns  stets  daran  erin- 
nem,  dass  im  mittelalterlichen  Sprachgebrauch  die  dramatischen  Gattungs- 
begriffe  nicht  streng  auseinandergehalten  werden."  On  the  contrary,  the 
word  miraculorum  as  employed  here  is  not  at  all  a  case  of  loose  usage.  The 
correct  interpretation  is,  as  Professor  Manly  has  suggested  to  me,  that  the 
term  applied  to  the  dramatic  presentation  is  not  miraculorum  but  representa- 
cio.   Thus  there  is  a  "representacio  pastorum peregrinorum.     .     . 

.  .  miraculorum."  Miracidoruui  here  refers  to  the  marvels  or  miraculous 
events  which  formed  the  subject  matter  of  the  play.  E.  K.  Chambers,  also, 
(II,  104  footnote)  cites  this  as  standing  for  "representacio",  but  misquotes. 
His  text  reads  "miraculum  in  nocte  Paschae"  instead  of  "miraculorum  etc." 


4  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

that  they  are  chronologically  later.  The  former  of  the  two,  the 
opening  words  of  Rustebeuf's  play,  Theophile,  reads  "Ci  com- 
mence le  miracle  de  Theophile;"  and  the  latter,  the  heading  over 
each  of  the  Miracles  de  Notre  Dame  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
runs  "Cy  commence  un  miracle  de  Notre  Dame."  ^^ 

These  he  regards  as  indicating  a  distinct  and  independent  type 
of  drama.  Obviously,  they  do  nothing  of  the  sort.  The  ref- 
erences are  to  the  content  and  not  to  the  dramatic  form  of  the 
plays.  As  an  illustration  of  this  same  usage,  take  the  title  of 
a  thirteenth  century  group  of  narrative  miracles  de  Notre  Dame 
de  Chartres  written  by  a  Jehan  le  Marchant.  It  reads,  "Ci  com- 
mencent  les  miracles  Nostre  Dame  ^-  quel  fit  par  siglise  de  Char- 
tres feire." 

In  fact,  the  "Ci  commence  un  miracle"  is  merely  a  translation 
of  the  conventional  title  to  the  mediaeval  Latin  narrative 
miracle,  "(Hie)  incipit  miraculuin  etc."  A  case  in  point  is 
"Incipit  miraculum  de  adolescente  quem  sancta  virgo  Maria  de 
inferno  liberavit."^' 

The  only  instance  which  Dr.  Weydig  cites  of  usage  in  the 
fifteenth  century  relating  to  the  drama  is  an  extract  from  the 
statutes  of  the  church  of  Toul,  France,  which  reads  "Fiunt  ibi 
moralitates  vel  simulacra  miraculorum  cum  farcis."^* 

In  this  case  the  dramatic  type  under  consideration  is  not 
miracle  but  morality;  and  an  explanation  of  the  representations 
included  in  this  type  is  simulacra  iniraculorum,  i.  e.  imitations, 
not    of    Miracle    Plays   but    of   marvels    or    miraculous    events. ^^ 

"  Op.  cit.,  p.  8. 

"  Le  Livre  des  miracles  de  Notre  Dame  de  Chartres,  ecrit  en  vers  au  Xllle 

siecle    par    Jehan    le    Marchant,    public par    M.    G.    Duplessis. 

(Chartres,    1855). 

"A.  Mussafia,  Ueber  die  von  Gaiitier  de  Coincy  beniitsten  Quellcn 
(Denkschriften  der  k'dnigl.  Akad.  der  Wissenschaft  in  Wien,  phil-hist.  Classe 
[1894],  XLIV,  p.  17).  Further  examples  of  the  use  of  incipit  in  this  same 
general  sense  are  "Incipit  relatio  de  miraculis  eiusdem  prothomartyris  (St. 
Stephen)"  {Cat.  Codd.  Hctgiog.  Bibl.  Reg.  Brux.,  I,  p.  75),  "Incipit  vita  Sancti 
Florini  confessoris"  {ibid.,  I,  p.  122),  "Item  alia  incipit  relatio  de  translatione 
Sancti  Albani  martyris"  {ibid.,  I,  p.  199).  Professor  Manly  tells  me  that 
this  convention  is  almost   universal. 

"From  E.  Du  Meril  {op.  cit.),  p.  59,  footnote.     See  Weydig,  p.  10. 

"That  Du  Cange  {Glossarium  ad  Scriptores  Mediae  et  Infimac  Lafini- 
tatis,  ed.  1885,  II,  p.  515)  regards  this  as  the  interpretation  is  shown  by  his 


DEFINITION  5 

Thus  in  all  Dr,  Weydig's  material  which  we  have  analyzed 
miracle  refers  only  to  the  content  of  the  literary  productions 
mentioned. 

But  there  are  in  mediaeval  records  two  references  to  the 
Miracle  Play  as  a  dramatic  type.  These  make  clear  what  the 
technique  is  and  afford  a  sound  basis  for  a  working  definition. 
One  of  the  two  is  the  remaining  example  employed  by  Dr.  Weydig ; 
it  is  a  reference  to  a  lost  St.  Catherine  play  performed  at 
Dunstable,  England,  about  iioo.  To  secure  logical  division  in 
my  analysis  I  have  purposely  avoided  considering  this  reference 
earlier.  Before  taking  it  up,  I  quote,  as  pertinent  in  this  dis- 
cussion, Dr.  Weydig's  limitation  of  Miracle  Play  to  certain,  par- 
ticular saints.  It  runs  as  follows :  "As  saints  only  St.  Nicholas 
and  the  Virgin  Mary  come  actively  into  consideration."^® 

Dr.  Weydig's  reference  is  the  well-known  one  from  Matthew 
Paris,^''  a  monk  of  St.  Albans,  England,  who  about  1240  wrote, 
and  compiled  from  the  work  of  preceding  historians,  a  history  of 
his  monastery.  The  information  of  immediate  importance  to  us  in 
the  passage  quoted  below  is  that  Geoffrey,  while  a  schoolmaster  at 

definition  glossed  under  moralitas:  "Actio  scenica  informandis  moribus 
destinata,  ut  putabant ;  quamquam  in  ea  sacra  mysteria  sanctorumque  facta 
ridicule    agerent,    nostris    moralite."      Then    as    an    illustration,    follows    the 

passage    in    question :    "Vide infra    in    Pius    2.      Stat.    mss.    Eccl. 

Tull.  an.  1497  fol.  67r:  Fiunt  ibi  moralitates  vel  simulacra  miraculorum  cum 
farcis  et  similibus  jocalis,  semper  tamen  honestis." 

"Weydig,  op.  cit.,  p.  10. 

^"^  I  insert  the  entire  passage  from  Matthew  Paris  because  the  evidence 
which  it  contains  is  important,  not  only  here,  but  elsewhere  in  our  study. 
Vitae  Abbattim  St.  Alhani  (London,  1684),  p.  1007.  "Iste  (Gaufridus)  de 
Caenommania  unde  oriundus  erat,  venit  vocatus  ab  Abbate  Richardo,  dum 
adhuc  saecularis  esset  (This  Geoffrey  was  Abbot  of  St.  Albans  from  11 19  to 
1 146),  ut  scholam  apud  Sanctum  Albanum  regeret.  Et  cum  venisset,  concessa 
fuit  schola  alio  Magistro,  quia  non  venit  tempestive.  Legit  igitur  apud 
Dunestapliam  expectans  scholam  Sancti  Albani  sibi  repromissam,  ubi  quen- 
dam  ludum  de  Sancta  Katerina  (quem  miracula  vulgariter  appellamus)  fecit. 
Ad  quae  decoranda,  petiit  a  sacrista  Sancti  Albani,  ut  sibi  Cape  Chorales 
accomodarentur,  &  obtinuit.  Et  fuit  ludus  ille  de  Sancta  Katherina.  Casu 
igitur  nocte  sequenti,  accensa  est  domus  magistri  Gaufridi,  &  combusta  est 
domus  cum  libris  suis,  &  Capis  memoratis.  Nesciens  igitur  quomodo  hoc 
damnum  Deo  &  Sancto  Albano  restauraret,  seipsum  reddidit  in  holocaustum 


6  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

Dunstable,  made  (fecit)  and  had  presented  a  play  of  St.  Catherine 
of  the  type  of  drama  commonly  known  about  1240  as  "miracula." 
Though  Dr.  Weydig  in  his  second  chapter  expresses  doubt  as  to 
whether  or  not  we  have  here  to  do  with  an  actual  Miracle  Play, 
we  nevertheless  have  the  evidence  before  us  for  examination  and 
analysis.  This  evidence  contains  three  facts  significant  for  us 
in  connection  with  Weydig's  definition:  first  we  have  a  reference 
to  a  type  of  drama  known  as  "miracula,"  not  merely  to  an  indi- 
vidual play;  second,  the  saint  who  is  honored  in  this  dramatiza- 
tion is  other  than  St.  Nicholas  or  the  Virgin  Mary ;  and  third,  the 
play,  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt,  represented  not  the  divine 
appearance  or  miraculous  intervention  of  a  saint,  but  either  the 
disputation  of  Catherine  before  the  Emperor  Maximinius  with 
the  philosophers,  or  her  passion — or  possibly  included  both.^* 

Thus,  as  a  result  of  this  examination  of  Dr.  Weydig's  evidence 
we  see  that  the  only  example  which  concerns  the  Miracle  Play 
as  a  type  rather  than  the  content  of  individual  plays  absolutely 
fails  to  justify  his  definition.  That  the  miracles  of  St.  Nicholas 
had  much  to  do  with  fixing  the  name  of  this  type  of  drama  is 
very  probably  true,  but  that  is  another  thing  from  saying  that 
his  miracles  and  those  of  the  Virgin  Mary  constitute  the  type.^^ 

The  other  reference  which  I  suggested  above  is  also  well 
known.     It   is    to   the   passage    from   William    Fitz- Stephen's    in- 

Deo,  assumens  habitum  Religionis  in  domo  Sancti  Albani.  Et  haec  fuit 
causa,  quare  tantum  adhibuit  diligentiae,  ut  Capas  chorales  in  eadem,  postea 
in  Abbatem  promotus,  faceret  pretiosas." 

"For  the  evidence  by  which  I  reach  this  conclusion  I  refer  the  reader 
to  my  chapter,  St.  Catherine  and  her  Play. 

"Subject  to  the  same  general  criticism  as  Dr.  Weydig's  is  the  following 
definition  by  L.  Petit  de  Julleville,  Les  Mystcres  (1880).  I,  p.  107:  "On 
appelait  miracle,  au  moyen  age,  le  recit  de  quelque  fait  surnaturel  attribue 
a  la  Vierge  ou  aux  Saints.  Quand  la  narration,  se  transformant  etait  mise 
en  drame,  comme  c'est  ici  le  cas  (he  is  writing  concerning  Rustebeuf's 
Theophile)   le  drame  conservait  le  meme  nom." 

Fully  as  arbitrary  as  Weydig's  is  Professor  Wilh.  Cloetta's  Sonntags- 
beilage  zur  Vossischen  Zeitting,  July  21,  1895,  pp.  9-12:  "Sie  (die  Mirakel) 
fiihren  immer  ein  einziges  Wunder  vor.  das  von  der  betrefTenden  heiligen 
Person  zur  Zeit,  als  sie  nicht  mehr  auf  Erden  wollte,  verrichtet  worden  ist". 


DEFINITION  7 

troduction  to  the  life  of  Thomas  a  Becket,^°  consisting  of  a  brief 
survey  of  London  (c.  1190).  In  this,  as  the  reader  will  recall, 
he  writes  of  the  plays  of  London,  contrasting  them  with  those  of 
ancient  Rome.  He  states  that  London  has  in  place  of  theatrical 
spectacles,  in  place  of  scenic  plays,  more  sacred  plays,  represen- 
tations of  miracles  which  holy  confessors  have  wrought,  or  rep- 
resentations of  passions  by  which  the  constancy  of  martyrs  has 
become  renowned.  Here  we  have  as  a  dramatic  type,  saints'  plays : 
the  two  main  groups  of  it  are,  representations  of  miracles,  and  rep- 
resentations of  martyrdoms.  Into  the  second  group  falls  the  St.  Cath- 
erine play,  a  Miracle  Play.  On  the  basis  of  the  evidence  here  pre- 
sented relative  to  dramatic  form,  I  propose  the  following  defini- 
tion as  already  phrased  by  another  :2^  "The  miracle  play  is  the 
dramatization  of  a  legend  setting  forth  the  life  or  the  martyrdom 
or  the  miracles  of  a  saint."  The  final  evidence  for  the  establishing 
of  this  definition  will  be  found  in  later  chapters. 

^°  Vita  Sancti  Thomae  Cantauriensis  Archiepiscopi  et  Martyris.  See 
Materials  for  the  History  of  Thomas  a  Becket,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury 
(Rolls  Series,  1877),  Vol.  Ill,  p.  9.:  "Lundonia  pro  spectaculis  theatralibus, 
pro  ludis  scenicis  ludos  habet  sanctiores,  repraesentationes  miraculorum  quae 
sancti  confessores  operati  sunt,  seu  repraesentationes  passionum  quibus 
claruit  constantia  martyrium". 

'^See  J.  M.  Manly,  Mod.  Phil.  IV  (1906-1907),  p.  585.  A  similar  but 
more  general  wording  of  this  definition  is  given  by  A.  W.  Ward,  Hist.  Eng. 
Dram.  Lit.  (1809),  I.  pp.  41-42:  "Properly  speaking,  mysteries  deal  with  Gos- 
pel events  only Miracle-plays,  on  the  other  hand,  are  more  espe- 
cially concerned  with  incidents  derived  from  the  legends  of  the  Saints  of  the 
Church." 


CHAPTER  II. 
Analysis  of  Traditional  Theories 
The  earliest  Miracle  Plays,  according  to  the  records,  are 
those  of  St.  Nicholas  and  St.  Catherine.  Of  St.  Nicholas^  there 
are  preserved  eight  plays  in  four  different  manuscripts.  Accord- 
ing to  internal  and  external  evidence  none  of  these  plays  is  later 
than  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century.  The  two  accepted  as  the 
earliest  are  preserved  in  an  eleventh  century  manuscript  from 
Hildesheim  (Prussia).^  One  of  these  is  a  dramatized  version  of 
the  well-known  legend  in  which  St.  Nicholas  gave  dowries  to  three 
sisters  who  were  considering  entering  upon  lives  of  shame  to  save 
their  father  from  want.  The  other  has  as  its  theme  the  miraculous 
intervention  of  the  saint  in  restoring  to  life  three  young  scholars  who 
had  been  murdered  by  an  innkeeper  at  whose  house  they  were  stop- 
ping over  night.  An  Einsiedeln'  (Switzerland)  manuscript  of  the 
early  twelfth  century  contains  a  dramatized  fragment  of  the  latter 
part  of  this  same  legend.  The  part  preserved  opens  with  the 
appearance  of  St.  Nicholas  at  the  home  of  the  innkeeper.  In 
a  Fleury  (France)  manuscript  of  the  thirteenth  century  are  four 
complete  plays  which  have  this  saint  as  their  hero.*  The  sub- 
jects of  two  are  the  same  as  of  those  just  mentioned.  The 
third  is  of  a  Jew  who  entrusted  his  property  to  an  image  of  St. 
Nicholas,  which  he  had  left  to  guard  his  house.  Later  when 
he  returned  and  found  that  the  robbers  had  stolen  his  goods,  he 

^This  does  not  include  some  later  St.  Nicholas  plays  outside  the  limits 
of  the  present  study. 

^  British  Museum,  Additional  Ms.  22414.  Text  with  introduction  and 
notes  by  Ernst  Diimmler  Zeitschr.  f.  deut.  Alt.,  Vol.  XXXV  (1891),  pp. 
401-407.  Further  discussion  by  Ernst  Diimmler  and  E.  Schroder,  ibid., 
XXXVI  (1892),  pp.  238-240.  See  also  Weydig,  op.  cit.,  pp.  53  ff.  for  discus- 
sion of  the  eight  plays. 

'  Einsiedeln  Hs.  Nr.  347.  Text  with  introduction  by  P.  Gall  Morel, 
Anzeiger  f.  Kunde  d.  deutschen  Vorzeit,  YI,  Neue  Folge  (1859),  cols.  207-210. 

* Bibliothique  d'Orleans  No.  201  (olim  178).  Texts:  E.  de  Coussemaker, 
Drames  Liturgiques  (1861)  pp.  83-142;  E.  Du  Meril,  -op.  cit.,  pp.  254-271, 
276-284;  Thomas  Wright,  £0^/3;  Mysteries  (1838),  pp.  1-21.  The  date  of  the 
manuscript  as  indicated  above  is,  of  course,  not  to  be  understood  as  the  date 
of  the  plays. 


ANALYSIS  OF  TRADITIONAL  THEORIES  9 

threatened  to  beat  the  image,  but  St.  Nicholas  intervened  and 
forced  the  robbers  to  return  the  property.  As  a  sequel  the  Jew 
became  a  Christian.  The  fourth  miracle  represents  how  St. 
Nicholas  brought  back  to  Getron  and  Euphrosina  their  son, 
Adeodatus,  who  had  been  kidnaped  by  a  pagan  king,  Marmori- 
nus.  The  last  play  of  this  group  of  eight  was  written  by  a  scholar 
named  Hilarius^  and  treats  the  same  theme  as  the  third  Fleury 
miracle.  In  this  play  a  Barbarian  takes  the  place  of  the  Fleury 
Jew.  With  regard  to  the  St.  Catherine  play,  I  have  already  stated 
that  we  have  only  a  chance  reference  to  it.^  Its  latest  possible 
date  is  1119,  the  time  at  which  Geoffrey,  its  author  or  manager, 
became  abbot  of  St.  Albans ;  and  it  is  most  probably  several  years 
earlier. 

Waiving  for  the  moment  the  unsettled  question  of  whether  or  not 
this  period  produced  other  Miracle  Plays  than  those  just  indicated, 
we  turn  to  the  actual  question  at  issue.  It  is  one  of  historical 
fact :  What  is  the  origin  of  this  type  of  play  ?  The  question  in- 
volves not  a  discussion  of  what  might  have  happened,  but  of  what 
did  happen.  We  are  concerned  with  theories  only  in  so  far  as  they 
serve  as  a  starting  point  for  investigation. 

THE   THEORY   OF   EVOLUTION 

A  great  fallacy  in  the  discussion  of  the  origin  of  the  Miracle  Play 
is  that  there  has  been  too  much  mere  speculation  based  on  a  loose 
and  dangerous  argument  by  analogy.  One  of  the  clearest  cases  of 
such  speculation  is  Richard  Garnett's  statement  of  his  theory.  He 
writes  thus:  "This  (the  revival  of  the  mediaeval  drama  in  the 
Miracle  Play)  must be  sought  in  the  dramatic  character  as- 
sumed by  the  services  of  the  Church  as  a  consequence  of  their 
language  having  become  unintelligible  to  the  bulk  of  the  people.  .  .  . 
"It  was  not  that  dramas  were  expressly  composed  for  liturgical  pur- 
poses, but  that  germs  already  present  in  the  ritual  developed  into 
the  dramatic   representations.     At   last  the   religious   drama   went 

'The  period  of  Hilarius'  literary  activity  is  probably  the  second  quarter 
of  the  twelfth  century.  This  conclusion  is  based  on  the  fact  that  he  was  a 
student  under  Abelard  while  the  latter  taught  at  Paraclete  (c.  1125).  For 
further  comments  *on  Hilarius,  see  Chapter  III,  p.  41,  and  Hilarii  Versus 
et  Ludi  (1838),  pp.  34  ff.  ed.  Champollion-Figeac ;  E.  Du  Meril,  op.  cit., 
pp.  272-276. 

*  See  Chapter  I,  p.  5,  and  footnote. 


10  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

forth  from  the  church  into  the  open  air  as  an  offshoot  of  the  liturg>', 
a  kindred  yet  independent  form  of  service.  By  a  further  important, 
yet  highly  natural  development,  it  was  allowed  to  be  expressed  in 

vernacular The  evolutionary  process  was  slow,  and 

is  to  us  obscure,  but  on  the  whole  it  may  be  concluded  that  the 
mystery  or  miracle  play  was  an  accepted  institution  in  Central 
Europe  toward  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century."'  Now  it  is  not 
my  purpose  to  discuss  the  drama  whose  origins  "must  be  sought  in 
the  dramatic  character  assumed  by  the  services  of  the  Church." 
That  is  not  the  subject  of  my  proposed  study.  Furthermore,  the 
work  has  already  been  clearly  and  convincingly  done.^  But  in  this 
connection,  the  following  needs  to  be  said.  Though  the  Miracle 
Play  may  show  certain  liturgical  associations  in  common  with  the 
early  religious  plays,  there  is  absolutely  no  evidence  that  the  early 
liturgical  play  ever  developed  from  a  "germ"  as  "an  offshoot  of  the 
liturgy"  into  the  Miracle  Play.  Not  only  is  there  no  evidence  in 
favor  of  this  hypothesis,  but  all  the  evidence  is  directly  opposed 
to  it.  This  we  shall  present  in  its  order  in  due  time.  Further,  as 
I  have  already  shown  by  the  testimony  of  William  Fitz-Stephen  and 
Matthew  Paris,  the  Miracle  Play  as  a  type  of  drama  is  clearly 
distinguishable.  In  this  respect  Garnett  has  entirely  disregarded 
any  distinctions.  The  fallacy  involved  in  his  theory  I  suggested 
in  my  remarks  preceding  his  statement  of  the  case.  It  is  summed 
up  in  his  closing  sentence :  "The  evolutionary  process  was  slow 
and  is  to  us  obscure." 

The  logical  objection  to  this  point  of  view  was  well  put  some 
years  ago :  "We  know  that  literature  and  art  and  social  life  are 
not  plants  or  animals,  and  that  they  have  their  own  laws  of  exist- 
ence, but  even  if  we  try  to  keep  steadily  before  us  the  fallacy  residing 
in  such  terms  as  'organism'  or  'evolution'  it  is  practically  impossible 
to  speak  or  think  of  any  unified  body  of  facts  showing  progressive 
change  as  men  habitually  spoke  and  thought  before  i860.     That  we 

'  Richard  Garnett  and  Edmund  Gosse,  English  Literature,  an  Ilhistrated 
Record  (1903),  Vol.  I,  p.  221. 

*See  Carl  Lange,  Die  lateinischen  Osterfeiern  (Miinchen,  1887)  ;  also  E. 
K.  Chambers,  The  Mediaeval  Stage  (1903),  Vol.  II,  pp.  i  67;  and  Wilh. 
Creizenach,  Geschichte  des  neueren  Dramas  (1911),  Vol.  I,  pp.  43  ff.  For  a 
brief  and  succinct  statement  including  all  the  essential  features  see  I.  M. 
Manly,  Modern  Philology,  Vol.  IV,  pp.  583-584. 


ANALYSIS  OF  TRADITIONAL  THEORIES  II 

should  Still  speak  and  think  as  if  the  needs  of  human  thought  could 
be  met  by  a  mere  chronological  record  is  not  to  be  wished ;  but  it 
is  equally  undesirable  that  in  our  attempts  to  understand  the  pro- 
cesses of  life  we  should  accept  for  our  own  particular  problem  a 
formula  whose  only  claim  to  attention  is  that  it  seems  to  solve 
another  problem.  That  is  what  we  have  been  doing,  even  when 
we  were  not  conscious  of  it."^  The  essential  fact  here  is  that 
literature  is  not  an  organism  but  a  product  and  has  no  power  within 
itself  to  reproduce.  A  product  which  meets  popular  approval  be- 
comes a  fashion,  and  thus  a  new  type  is  established.  Its  origin  is 
the  result  of  some  new  factors,  of  forces  within  the  period  in  which 
it  first  makes  its  appearance.  All  this  preceding  is  the  reason  that 
arguments  merely  on  the  basis  of  biological  analogy  will  never  ex- 
plain the  origin  of  the  Miracle  Play. 

The  theory  proposed  by  Professor  A.  W.  Ward  is  in  some  re- 
spects similar  in  character  to  the  one  just  discussed.  Thus,  he 
writes  with  regard  to  the  dramatic  development  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury: "From  the  same  period  survive  divers  dramatic  versions  of 
legends  concerning  the  popular  St.  Nicholas,  which  savor  of  the 
monastic  literary  drama,  and  thus  bear  witness  to  the  fluidity  of 
a  growth  of  which  it  is  easier  to  detach  the  successive  steps  from 
one  another  in  accordance  with  a  priori  theory  than  to  arrange  the 
sequence  in  proved  chronological  order."^°  Just  what  he  means 
by  "monastic  literary  drama,"  and  what  relation  he  has  in  mind  is 
shown  clearly  by  another  statement  which  he  makes  some  years 
later:  "While  avowedly  imitated  in  form  from  those  of  Terence 
those  religious  exercises  (i.  e.  those  of  Hroswitha)  derive  their 
themes — martyrdoms  and  miraculous  or  otherwise  startling  conver- 
sions— from  the  legends  of  Christian  saints.  Thus  from  perhaps 
the  ninth  to  the  twelfth  centuries,  Germany  and  France,  and  through 
the  latter  by  means  of  the  Norman  conquest,  England  became  ac- 
quainted with  what  may  be  called  the  literary  monastic  drama.  It 
was,  no  doubt,  performed  by  the  children  under  the  care  of  monks 
or  nuns  or  by  the  religious  themselves :  an  exhibition  of  the  former 
kind  was  the  play  of  St.  Catherine  acted  at  Dunstable  about  the  year 
mo  in  copes. "^^ 

°J.  M.  Manly,  loc.  cit.,  p.  580. 

"A.  W.  Ward,  Hist.  Eng.  Dram.  Lit.  (1899),  Vol.  I,  p.  37. 

'^Encyclopaedia  Britannica,  eleventh  edhion   (1911),  Vol.  VIII,  p.  417. 


12  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

Tlie  theory  here  summarized  presupposes  two  facts  for  which 
any  conclusive  evidence  is  lacking:  that  Hroswitha's  plays  were 
acted,  and  that  they  or  successors  to  them  passed  through  Germany 
and  France  to  England.  Professor  Manly  in  a  review  of  Joseph 
Tunison's  Dramatic  Traditions  in  the  Dark  Ages  summarizes  clear- 
ly the  present  state  of  opinion  with  regard  to  the  first  point  and 
adds  some  pertinent  comments  relative  to  her  dramatic  art.  He 
writes:  "It  is  surely  misleading  to  say  (p.  167)  that  'competent 
critics  agree  that  her  dramas  could  be  acted  as  they  were  written.' 
Some  have  contended  that  they  could.  That  Sapientia  and  Cali- 
machus  could,  is  hard  to  believe.  The  impUcation  of  page  167  is  that 
Hroswitha's  dramatic  technique  was  excellent.  Her  'correctness' 
consists,  in  fact,  only  in  not  interpolating  such  expressions  as  'inquit' 
in  the  dialogue.  She  follows  her  legends  almost  slavishly  and  neg- 
lects most  obvious  opportunities  for  spectacular  and  dramatic 
effects ;  see  her  treatment  of  the  comic  situation  in  Dulcitius  sc.  IV, 
and  compare  in  Gallicanus,  I,  ix,  with  I,  xii,  7,  and  in  Calimachus 
sc.  vii  with  the  report  in  ix,  13."^"  Then,  too,  Hroswitha  tells  us 
herself  that  she  wrote  her  plays  to  be  read.^^  With  regard  to  the 
second  point,  not  only  is  there  no  indication  of  Hroswitha's  influ- 
ence" on  the  miracle  plays,  but  positive  evidence  reveals  an  entirely 
different  origin  and  development. 

12  See  American  Historical  Review,  XIII  (1907-1908)  p.  125.  Cf.  P.  S. 
Allen,  The  Mediaeval  Mimus,  Mod.  Phil.  VIII  (igio),?.  25;  "Roswitha's  so- 
called  dramas  are  of  course  nothing  but  legends  in  crude  dialogue- form," 
and  ff. 

"  Hrotsvithae  Opera,  recensuit  et  emendavit  Paulus  de  Winterfeld 
(Berlin,  [1902],  p.  106)  Preface  to  plays:  "Plures  inveniuntur  catholici,  cujus 
nos  penitus  expurgare  nequimus  facti,  qui  pro  cultioris  facundia  sermonis 
gentilium  vanitatum  librorum  utilitati  praeferunt  sacrarum  scripturarum.  Sunt 
etiam  alii,  sacris  inhaerentes  paginis,  qui  licet  alia  gentilium  spernant, 
Terentii  tamen  fingmenta  frequentius  lectitant,  et,  dum  dulcedine  sermonis 
delectantur,  nefandarum  notitia  rerum  maculantur.  Unde  ego,  Qamor  Val- 
idus  Gandeshemensis,  non  recusavi  ilium  imitari  dictando,  dum  alii  colunt 
legendo  quo  eodem  dictationis  genere,  quo  turpia  lascivarum  incesta  femin- 
arum  recitabantur,  laudabilis  sacrarum  castimonia  virginum  juxta  mei  facul- 
tatem  ingenioli  celebraretur". 

"  As  far  as  evidence  is  concerned  one  must  regard  Hroswitha's  imitation 
of  Terence  as  sporadic ;  she  set  no  literary  fashion.  Her  work  was  essenti- 
ally that  of  a  recluse.  However,  in  employing  Latin  legends  of  saints,  as 
she  did,  she  was  in  harmony  with  the  prevailing  literary  fashion  of  her 
period  (ca.  940-1002).     Vide  infra,  chap,  iii,  p.  34. 


ANALYSIS  OF  TRADITIONAL  THEORIES  I3 

THE  FARCED  EPISTLE  THEORY 

Professor  Suchier  ^^  summarizes  a  theory  which  has  had  some 
currency  among  students  of  the  drama.  The  following  is  a  brief 
statement  of  it :  The  liturgical  play,  banished  from  the  church  be- 
cause of  secular  or  comic  elements,  found  a  halting  place  in  the 
churchyard  and  the  monastery.  In  the  latter  of  these  two  places 
plays  were  performed  in  honor  of  school  saints.  An  important  im- 
pulse to  this  readjustment  of  the  dramatic  office,  making  it  broader 
so  as  to  include  saints'  material  and  saints'  feasts  as  well  as  Biblical 
material  and  such  liturgical  feasts  as  Christmas  and  Easter,  was 
the  vernacular  farced  epistle.  As  an  illustration  of  its  influence 
take  the  vernacular  refrains  in  Hilarius'  two  plays :  Lazarus  and 
Nicholas. 

An  analysis  of  this  shows,  as  in  the  case  of  Garnett's  theory, 
that  there  is  a  failure  to  distinguish  between  the  earliest  religious 
plays,  which  had  their  inspiration  essentially  within  the  liturgy, 
and  Miracle  Plays,  which  originated  some  two  hundred  years  later 
under  widely  different  circumstances  and  influences.  Certain  com- 
mon liturgical  associations  should  not  cause  us  to  confuse  two 
distinct  types.     Suchier  does  indeed  suggest  a  different  origin,  but 

"  See  H.  Suchier  und  Adolph  Birsch-Hirschfeld,  Geschichte  der  Franz- 
osischen  Litteratur  von  dltesten  Zeiten,  etc.  (1900),  p.  273:    "Das  Eindringen 

weltlicher  oder  komischer  Elemente gab  schon  im   12.    Jahr- 

hundert  Anlass,  die  Spiele  aus  der  Kirche  zu  verbannen;  doch  verlegte  man 
sie  zunachst  auf  den  Platz  neben  der  Kirche.  Seit  dem  Anfang  des  12. 
Jahrhunderts  werden  auch  in  den  Klosterschulen  Auffiihrungen  veranstaltet, 
besonders  zu  Ehren   der  Katharina,   der  Schutzpatronin  der  Gelehrsamkeit, 

und  des  Nicholaus  des  Schutzpatrons  der  Schiiler 

"Die  lateinische  Sprache  machte  das  Repertoire  des  Offiziums  zu  einem 
internationalen.  Zunachst  einfach  an  die  Bibel  angelehnt  und  auf  die 
Hauptfeste  beschrankt,  dann  auch  auf  Feste  der  Lokalheiligen  bezogen, 
wurde  das  Offizium  durch  neue  Arrangements  an  Ort,  Zeit,  und  Publicum 
angepasst  und  allmahlich  erweitert — Ein  wichtiger  Anstoss  zur  Umgestalt- 
ung  scheint  von  der  sogenannten  epitre  farcie  ausgegangen  zu  sein.  Das 
war  ein  Gesang  in  der  Volkssprache,  der  durch  die  Vorlesung  der  Perikope 
stiikweise  unterbrochen  wurde.  Uns  sind  mehrere  solcher  epitres  farcies 
in  franzosicher  and  provenzalischer  Sprache  erhalten;  den  altesten  auf 
Stephanus,  glaubt  man  in  den  Anfang  des  12.  Jahrhunderts  setzen  zu  diir- 
fen.  Die  Einmischung  franzosicher  Stellen,  die  auch  den  des  lateinischen 
unkundingen  Teil  Publikums  zu  seinem  Rechte  kommen  liess,  empfahl  sich 


14  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

he  makes  it  refer  to  a  new  feature  of  the  early  religious  play,  and 
not  to  the  creation  of  a  new  type.  The  theory,  as  the  reader  will 
observe,  is  that  the  vernacular  farced  epistle  is  really  the  origin  of 
the  Miracle  Play.  Since  I  shall  have  something  to  say  later  with 
regard  to  school  saints,  I  pass  them  for  the  present.  Relative  to 
this  theory  three  pertinent  questions  are:  What  is  the  farced 
epistle  ^^  as  the  term  is  here  employed  ?  What  is  its  purpose  ? 
What  does  the  evidence  show  as  to  its  relation  to  the  Miracle  Play? 
The  farced  epistle,  in  the  sense  here  employed  is  a  vernacular 
interpolation  in  the  passage  from  the  legends  of  a  saint  which  was 
read  on  that  particular  saint's  day.  Its  purpose  was  to  interpret 
in  the  language  of  the  congregation  the  content  of  the  Latin  lection 
— with  some  additional  popular  exposition  of  it.^'^  To  make  this 
clear,  take  an  extract  from  the  farced  epistle  which  Suchier  men- 
tions, the  one  for  the  feast  of  St.  Stephen.      It  opens  thus: 

Seignors,  oiez  communement : 
car  entendre  poez  brefment 
la  passion  et  le  torment 
de  seint  Esteinvre  apertement. 

Lectio  Actuum  Apostolorum 
Li   Apostre   ceste   lecon 
firent,  par  bone  ententiun, 
de  sein  Esteinvre,  le  baron. 

In  diehus  illis, 
Enpres  le  jur  que  Deus 
fu  nexce  por  nos, 
fu  enterdix  posez, 
fu  seint  Esteinvre  lapidez. 

auch  ftir  das  Offizium,  und  so  uns  von  Hilarius,  dem  Zuhorer  des  Abailard 

drei  lateinische  Schauspiele  erhalten   ('Daniel',  'Lazarus',  'Niko- 

laus',),  von  denen  die  beiden  letzteren  lyrische  Gesange,  man  mochte  sagen 
Arien,  einschliessen,  deren  2-4  Strophen  mit  franzosichen  Refrains  versehen 
sind."  E.  Du  Meril,  op.  cit.,  p.  74  note  2  suggests  a  similar  influence :  "Nous 
serious  tente  aussi  d'en  {epitre  farcie)  rapporter  I'origine  a  des  intentions 
dramatiques,  et  de  voir  une  veritable  liaison  entre  la  farciture  des  epitres  et 
les  farces." 

"Latin  farcire,  to  stuff. 

"  Cf.  Suchier,  op.  cit.,  "Das  war  ein  Gesang,  etc." 


ANALYSIS  OF  TRADITIONAL  THEORIES  1 5 

Stephanus,  pleniis  gratia  et  fortudine,  faciehat  prodigia  et  signa 
magna  in  populo}^ 

Seint  Esteinvres  pleins  de  bonte 
et  de  la  grace  damne  De(u), 
unc  n'entendi   a   faussete; 
einz  a  le  peuple  doctrine, 
et  par  miracles  demonstre 
coment  il  vienge  a  sauvete/^ 

And  thus  the  entire  story  of  Stephen's  martyrdom  as  recorded  in 
the  Acts  of  Apostles  is  given  in  this  manner,  with  popular  exposi- 
tion. That  this  is  a  highly  dramatic  incident  every  one  will  admit, 
but  it  is  not  drama.  Furthermore,  we  have  neither  drama  nor  any 
intermediate  stages  leading  to  it  in  this  or  any  other  vernacular 
farced  epistles  preserved.  In  the  case  of  St.  Nicholas,  the  saint 
whose  plays  are  earliest,  and  therefore  establish  the  type,  we  have 
no  vernacular  farced  epistles.  But  even  if  we  had,  the  Hildesheim 
plays,  all  of  which  are  in  Latin,  show  no  trace  of  this  influence.^'' 
But  let  us  turn  to  the  case  cited  by  Suchier,  the  two  plays  by 
Hilarius.  The  only  relation  that  they  show  to  the  farced  epistle  is 
that  they  have  vernacular  portions.  By  way  of  illustration  and 
comparison,  take  an  extract  typical  of  this  feature  in  both  plays, 
one  from  St.  Nicholas.  It  is  after  the  robbers  at  the  command  of 
St.  Nicholas  have  returned  to  the  barbarian  the  stolen  money.  He 
approaches  the  image  and  says : 

Suplex  ad  te  venio, 

Nicholax; 
Nam  per  te  recipio 

Tut  icei  que  tu  gardas. 

^^Acts  of  Apostles,  Chap.  VI,  v.  8. 

"E.  du  Meril,  op.  cit.,  pp.  410-41 1. 

^  Clemens  Blume's  masterly  work  on  tropes  to  epistles  {Analecta  Hym- 
nica  [Leipzig,  1906],  Vol.  XLIX,  pp.  167  ff.),  to  which  Professor  Karl  Young 
has  kindly  called  my  attention,  shows  that  though  the  vernacular  tropes  can 
hardly  be  dated  back  of  the  thirteenth  century,  there  are  tropes  entirely  in 
Latin  as  early  as  the  eleventh  century.  However,  Suchier's  theory  concerns 
itself  entirely  with  the  vernacular  tropes.  And  further,  there  is  no  evidence 
that  there  is  any  essential  relation  between  the  Latin  tropes  and  the  Miracle 
Play  in  its  origin. 


l6  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

Sum  profectus  peregre, 

Nicholax; 
Sed  recepi  integre 
Tut  ice  que  tu  gardas. 

Mens  mea  convaluit, 

Nicholax; 
Nichil  enim  defuit 
De  tut  cei  que  tu  gardas.-^ 

Now  even  a  hasty  reading  of  this  passage  shows  that  the  ver- 
nacular element  here  bears  no  logical  relation  to  that  in  the  passage 
quoted  from  the  farced  epistle.  It  is  an  integral  part  of  the  play — 
necessary  to  complete  the  meaning  of  the  stanzas — and  this  exposi- 
tion presents  Suchier's  ^-  idea  of  the  purpose  of  the  vernacular  inter- 
polation. It  is  evident  that  its  real  purpose  here  is  entirely 
aesthetic.     It  is  a  refrain,  adding  to  the  lyric  quality  of  the  verse. 

Exactly  the  same  device  with  exactly  the  same  end  in  view  is 
employed  again  by  Hilarius  in  two  of  his  non-dramatic  poems, 
Ad  Petrum  Ahaelardmn^^  and  De  Papa  Scholastico.-^  I  take  three 
stanzas  from  the  first  for  illustration.  The  poem  as  a  whole  is  an 
appeal  to  Abelard  to  admit  to  his  classes  again  Hilarius  -^  and  a 
number  of  his  companions,  dismissed  presumably  because  of  some 
students'  prank  reported  to  him  by  his  servant.  The  three  stanzas 
quoted  are  an  invective  against  this  servant. 

"Lingua  servi,  nostrum  discidium, 
In  nos  Petri  commovit  odium. 
Quae  meretur  ultorem  gladium, 
Quia  nostrum  extinxit  studium! 
Tort  a  vers  nos  li  mestre. 
"Detestandus  est  ille  rusticus. 
Per  quem  cessat  a  schola  clericus : 
Gravis  dolor !  quod  quidam  puplicus 

"  Hilarii  Versus  ct  Ltidi,  p.  38 ;  Du  Meril,  op.  cit.,  p.  275. 

^*  Suchier,  op  cit.,  "Die  Einmischung versehen  sind." 

^Hilarii  Versus  et  Ludi,  pp.  14-16. 
^*  Ibid.,  pp.  41-42. 

'^Hilarii,  op.  cit.,  pp.  14-13.  See  also  Hisl.  Lift,  de  la  France,  Vol.  XII, 
p.  252. 


ANALYSIS  OF  TRADITIONAL  THEORIES  I7 

Id  effecit  ut  cesset  logicus ! 

Tort  a  vers  nos  li  mestre. 
"Est  dolendum  quod  lingua  servuli, 
Magni  nobis  causa  periculi, 
Susurravit  in  aurem  creduli, 
Per    quod    ejus    cessant    discipuli. 

Tort  a  vers  nos  li  mestre." 

Finally,  a  similar  use  of  vernacular  refrain  in  the  Daniel  of 
Beauvias,-®  a  contemporary  school  play,  and  the  Sponsus,-''  a  con- 
temporary liturgical  play,  gives  some  further  support  to  the  theory 
that  this  was  a  passing  fashion,  employed  for  lyric  effect.  At  any 
rate,  one  thing  is  certain :  this  vernacular  element  in  our  drama  has 
no  genetic  relation  to  the  same  feature  in  the  farced  epistle.  And 
there  is  certainly  no  warrant  for  the  contention  that  the  vernacular 
farced  epistle  influenced  the  origin  and  development  of  the  Miracle 
Play. 

THE  SCHOOL  SAINTS'   THEORY. 

Another  theory  which  has  been  suggested  by  several  historians 
of  the  drama  is  that  in  its  origin  the  Miracle  Play  is  a  dramatic 
representation  in  honor  of  the  patron  saints  of  scholars :  Nicholas 
and  Catherine.  This  is  expressed  definitely  by  Dr.  Weydig  ^^  in  his 
dissertation.  In  its  essence  his  theory  is  as  follows.  Latin  stories 
of  the  lives  of  saints  were  early  employed  as  school  exercises. 
Miracles  of  these  saints,  already  in  prose  dialogue,  may  often  have 
been  changed  into  little  poems  and   recited  at  a   festivity.     Then 

^*  E.  de  Coussemaker,  op.  cit.,  pp.  49  ff. 

"  Ibid.,  pp.  I  ff. ;   E.  Du  Meril,  op.  cit.,  pp.  233  fif. 

^'  I  add  Dr.  Weydig's  statement  entire  because  it  represents  current  opin- 
ion. Of  course  due  allowance  must  be  made  for  personal  views  in  detail 
with  which  others  holding  the  theory  would  not  agree.  Weydig,  op.  cit.,  pp. 
44-46:  "In  den  Schulen  ist  nun  auch  der  Keim  zum  Nikolausspiel  und  damit 
zum  Mirakelspiel  iiberhaupt  zu  suchen.  Die  Bedingungen  dafur  waren  hier 
am  giinstigsten.  Denn  zunachst  war  den  Schiilern  eine  genaue  Kenntnis  des 
Stoflfes  eigen,  die  sie  teils  aus  lateinischen  Erzahlungen,  teils  aus  miindlichen 
Uberlieferen  fiir  tjbungen  der  Schiiler  verwendet,  wie  das  iiblich  war.  Man 
konnte  an  ihnen  alles  fiir  die  damalige  Zeit  Wichtige  lernen :  Latein,  Vers- 
kunst,  Religion,  und  man  blieb  dabei  auf  anschaulichem,  realen  Gebiete.  So 
mogen   die   meist    schon    in    ihrer    Prosaform    dialogisierten    Wunder   oft    in 


l8  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

these  dialogues,  pressed  beyond  the  boundaries,  became  verse  and 
primitive  drama.  Thus  we  should  have  the  scholars  presenting — 
at  first  for  themselves  only — on  the  feast  day  of  their  patron,  St. 
Nicholas,  a  little  play  concerning  one  of  his  miracles,  the  joint  com- 
position of  two  monks,  one  writing  the  text,  the  other,  the  music. 
All  this  could  have  happened,  but  the  question  is,  did  it?     Shall 

kleine  Gedichte  verwandelt  and  dann  bei  Festlichkeit  rezitiert  worden  sein, 
wie  auch  aus  einer  Stelle  bei  Wace,  La  Vie  de  Saint  Nicholas  v.  226  ff.,  her- 
vorzugehen  scheint  (Delius  S.  8)  : 

Por  ceo  que  as  clers  fist  tiel  honor 
Font  li  clerc  feste  a  icel  jor, 
De  bien  lirre,  de  bien  chantier 
E  des  miracles  recitier. 

Die  dialogische  Form  drangte  sich  oft  schon  aus  der  Quelle  herein.  So 
entstand  einer  jener  kleinen  Gedicht-Dialoge,  wie  sie  in  den  beiden  Hildes- 
heimer  Spielen,  von  denen  gleich  zu  sprechen  ist,  erhalten  sind,  und  in  welcher 
Form  auch  die  erste  religiose,  dramatische  Komposition  Englands  iiberliefert 
ist,  betitelt  'The  Harrowing  of  Hell.'  Ausserdem  waren  Schiilern  der  Dialog 
und  das  Spiel  nicht  unbekannt,  denn  sie  wirkten  ja  meist  bei  der  Auffiihrung 
der  Spiele  zu  Weihnachten  und  Ostern  mit.  Warum  batten  sie  also,  zunachst 
nur  fiir  sich,  am  Festtage  ihres  Schutzheiligen  nicht  auch  ihm  zu  Ehren  ein 
kleines  Spiel  iiber  eins  seiner  Wunder  auffiihren  sollen?  Irgend  ein  junger 
Monch  oder  Kleriker  verfasste  den  wenig  umfangreichen  Text,  ein  anderer 
vielleicht  ersann  die  Musik  dazu,  die  sehr  einfach  w^ar."  For  a  more  gen- 
eral statement  of  the  theory  see  Creizenach,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  I,  p.  97:  "Mit  einem 
hohen  Grade  von  Wahrscheinlichkeit  diirfen  wir  aber  solche  Dramen  (Klos- 
terauffiirungen)  als  Schuldramen  aussprechen,  in  welchen  ein  Heiliger 
verherrlicht  wird,  der  als  Patron  des  Schulwesens  gait.  Gewiss  ist  es  kein 
Zufall,  dass  Gottfried  in  Dunstaple  die  heilige  Katharina,  die  Patronin  der 
Gelehrten,  zur  Heldin  seines  Schauspiels  erkor.  Der  Lieblingspatron  der 
Schiller  war  aber  der  kinderfreundliche  Nickolaus,  dessen  Gestalt  uns  in 
mehreren  Spielen  ehrfurchtgebietend,  dabei  mit  einem  leisen  Schimmer  von 
Humor  entgegentritt."  See  also  Creizenach  in  The  Cambridge  History  of 
Eng.  Lit.  Vol.  V,  p.  42. 

Although  Chambers,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  H,  pp.  57-59  is  very  guarded  in  his 
statements  concerning  the  origin  of  the  group  including  the  St.  Nicholas 
dramas,  suggesting  that  they  may  have  been  composed  on  the  model  of  the 
Easter  and  Christmas  plays,  he  does  connect  them  with  scholastic  influences 
without  committing  himself  to  any  definite  theory  (p.  59)  :  "Of  Latin  plays 
of  St.  Nicholas,  indeed  quite  a  little  group  exists;  and  the  great  scholastic 
feast  evidently  afforded  an  occasion,  less  only  than  Easter  and  Christmas, 
for  dramatic  performances."  However,  this  statement  is  entirely  general 
and  noncommittal,  and  I  call  attention  to  it  here  not  to  class  Chambers  with 
the  Weydig  group,  but  merely  to  indicate  his  related  point  of  view. 


ANALYSIS  OF  TRADITIONAL  THEORIES  I9 

we  regard  this  type  as  the  result  of  an  unconscious  evolution  within 
the  schoolroom,  and  the  happy  inspiration  -^  of  a  teacher  who  wished 
to  provide  a  new  entertainment  for  his  schoolboys  ?  My  analysis  of 
this  theory  may  well  be  introduced  by  the  query :  What  evidence  is 
there  in  favor  of  it?  In  the  first  place,  as  answer,  though  I  grant 
it  probable  that  teachers  employed  for  school  exercises  just  such 
saints'  legends  as  we  find  dramatized,  there  is  in  the  passage  quoted 
at  length  (see  footnote^^)  no  conclusive  evidence  which  warrants 
such  a  statement  as:  "Sicher  haben  die  Lehrer  solche  Erzahlungen 
fiir  Ubungen  der  Schiller  verwendet."^^  Wahrscheinlich  or  vielleicht, 
and  not  sicker  is  the  fitting  adverb  here.  Then  as  an  instance  of 
prose  legends  already  in  dialogue  Dr.  Weydig  gives  in  a  footnote, 
citation  to  Legenda  Aurea,  which  contains  entire  narratives  in 
dialogue.  When  we  recall  that  the  Legenda  Aurea  was  written 
almost  two  hundred  years  after  our  first  Miracle  Plays,  we  shall 
hardly  regard  the  form  which  Jacobus  de  Voragine,  its  compiler, 
employed  in  some  of  its  stories  as  proving  anything  for  our  case. 
Further,  the  lines  quoted  from  Wace  to  the  effect  that  scholars 
"read,  sing,  and  recite"  the  miracles  of  St.  Nicholas  on  his  feast 
day  because  he  saved  three  of  their  companions, ^^  were  written 
probably  half  a  century  after  the  Miracle  Play  was  created. ■'^-  So, 
though  the  time  that  elapsed  from  the  Hildesheim  dramas  to  Wace 
is  not  so  great  as  between  them  and  the  Legenda  Aurea,  the 
fallacy  in  both  cases  is  the  same.  And  the  theory  of  joint  com- 
position which  Dr.  Weydig  presents  is  speculation  justifiable  only 
on  the  basis  of  some  unquestioned  evidence. 

But  there  is  one  further  point  that  demands  our  attention.  I 
refer  to  Dr.  Weydig's  statement  that  in  their  origin  the  plays 
were  performed  in  honor  of  St.  Nicholas,  the  "Schutzheiligen"  of 
scholars.     And  here  I  call  in  question  what  has  heretofore  been 

"'Of  course  the  Miracle  Play  in  its  origin  was  the  happy  inspiration  of 
some  individual.  The  only  question  here  is  as  to  whether  the  view  presented 
gives  the  significance  and  relations  of  the  inspiration. 

^°  In  a  footnote  to  this  assertion  Weydig  cites  Grober  (Grundriss  II.  i,  p. 
395)  as  of  the  opinion  that  some  little  poems  concerning  St.  Martin  were 
employed  for  school  exercises. 

^  Vide  supra,  footnote :    Wej^dig  44-46. 

'^Concerning  Wace  (b.  ca.  iioo,  d.  ca.  1174)  see  Louis  N.  Delmare, 
Catholic  Encyclopaedia  Vol.  XV  (1912),  p.  521. 


20  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

regarded  as  an  absolute  fact,  viz.,  that  St.  Nicholas  and  St. 
Catherine  were  specialized  as  saints  of  scholars  previous  to  the 
origin  of  the  Miracle  Play.^-^  That  they  were  patrons  of  scholars 
during  the  Middle  Ages,  and  that  their  plays  were  performed  in 
the  schools  there  is  no  question.  The  question  is,  does  the  evidence 
show  that  they  were  specialized  as  patrons  of  the  scholars  at  the 
time  of  the  origin  of  the  Miracle  Playsf  The  statement  so  often 
cited  in  support  of  this  theory  is  the  well-known  one  from 
Bulaeus'  History  of  the  University  of  Paris.  Under  the  date 
1087,  the  year  of  the  translation  of  the  relics  of  St.  Nicholas  from 
Myra,  Asia  Minor  to  Bari,  Italy,  Bulaeus  writes:  'Tile  (Nicholas) 
autem  ab  omni  aevo  scholarium  Patronus  habitus  &  praesertim 
lunorium  qui  humaniaruni  litterarum  rudimentis  &  Grammaticae 
operam  dant,  ut  S.  Catharina  philosophorum."^*  St.  Nicholas  and 
St.  Catherine  patrons  of  scholars  and  philosophers  ab  omni  aevo! 
This  last  phrase  is  certainly  inclusive  enough.  But  a  few  facts 
must  be  taken  into  consideration  before  we  accept  Bulaeus  as 
authority.  We  must  remember,  first,  that  he  wrote  in  the  latter 
half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  several  hundred  years  after  the 
time  that  concerns  us,  and  that  he  cites  no  evidence  in  support 
of  his  sweeping  assertion.  In  this  connection,  an  analysis  of  an- 
other passage  from  Bulaeus,  quoted  by  almost  ever}^  historian  of 
the  drama,  is  of  greatest  importance  here  in  that  it  gives  us  an 
insight  into  his  method  of  reaching  conclusions.  I  refer  to  his 
comments  regarding  the  play  of  St.  Catherine.  Here  is  a  typical 
statement  from  one  of  the  older  histories  of  the  English  Drama  :^^ 
"According  to  Bulaeus,  this  play  of  St.  Katherine  was  not  by  any 
means  a  novelty  non  novo  quidem  instituto  sed  con^uetiidinc 
magistrorum  et  scholarum."  Let  us  look  to  the  context  of  this  as- 
sertion of  Bulaeus.     Under  the  date  1146,  the  year  of  the  death 

^  Though  Weydig  does  not  include  St.  Catherme  in  the  passage  quoted, 
since  he  regards  her  as  unessential  to  his  study  of  the  Miracle  Play,  the 
following  from  his  remarks  concerning  the  St.  Catherine  play  will  show,  I 
believe,  that  I  am  not  misrepresenting  him  by  including  her  in  the  argument 
(op.  cit.,  p.  13)  ;  "Bemerkenswert  ist,  dass  dieses  Drama  des  Gottfried  die 
Heilige  Katharina,  die  Patronin  der  Gelehrten,  zur  Heldin  hatte." 

**  C.  E.  Bulaeus,  Hlstoria  Universitatis  Parisiensis,  (six  vols.  1665-1673), 
Vol.  I,  p.  480. 

"J.  P.  Collier,  English  Dramatic  Poetry  (1879),  Vol.  I,  p.  14. 


ANALYSIS  OF  TRADITIONAL  THEORIES  21 

of  Geoffrey,  the  author  of  the  St.  Catherine  play,  he  writes:  "1146. 
Eodem  anno  obierunt  in  Anglia  plurimi  viri  insignes  ohm  huiuscc 
Academiae'"'  magistri :  inter  ahos  vero  Gaiif  ridus  Cenomanensis,  vir 
in  scholanim  magisterio  magni  nominis  hocce  vero  tempore  Abbas 
S.  Albani ;  qui  scilicet  e  Cenomania  ubi  docebat  evocatus  in  Angliam 
a  Richardo  Abbate  S.  Albani  ut  Monasterii  Scholas  regeret,  postea 
factus  est  ipse  Abbas  an.  11 19.  Abbatiamque  rexit  usque  ad  obitum. 
Ille  autem  in  praedicto  monasterio,  aut  certe  in  scholiis  ejusdem 
S.  Katharinae  ludum  seu  miracula  per  Discipulos  repraesentavit ; 
non  novo  quide  institute,  sed  de  consuetudine  Magistrorum  &  Schol- 
arum :  qua  de  re  sic  Mathaeus  Parisiensis,  seu  quiuis  alius  scriptor 
is  vitis  23.  Abbatum  S.  Albani,  ubi  de  Gaufrido  Abbate.  (Here 
follows  the  passage  from  Matthew  Paris  already  quoted.^^  Vide 
supra  footnote  17,  page  5,  chapter  I)  Ex  his  patet  inter  exercitationes 
iuventutis  scholasticae  fuisse  iam  tum  Ludos,  seu  Comoedias  & 
Tragoedias,  quemadmodum  usurpari  ubique  passim  hodie  videmus 
in  coUoquiis  &  Scholis  Artistarum :  quae  consuetudo  in  Academia 
quoque  Parisiensi  vetustissima  est,  ut  libro  de  Patronis  4.  Nationum 
a  nobis  edito  an.  1662  docuimus." 

This  is  Bulaeus  complete.  From  the  solitary  reference  of  Mat- 
thew Paris'  he  concludes  that  Miracle  Plays  were  a  well-established 
custom  among  teachers  and  scholars  when  Geofifrey  was  teaching 
at  Dunstable :  "Non  novo  quidem  instituto  sed  de  consuetudine 
magistrorum  et  scholarum."  Surely  not  a  convincing  method.  The 
reader  will  observe  that  it  is  not  here  a  question  of  whether  they 
were  a  well-established  custom,  but  of  whether  he  advances  any 
conclusive  evidence  to  show  that  they  were. 

And  if  we  accept  Rashdall's^®  estimate  of  Bulaeus'  entire  work 
on  the  history  of  the  University  of  Paris,  we  must  believe  that  the 
case  cited  is  not  an  unusual  one.     He  writes :  "Caesar  Egassius 

Bulaeus  (du  Boulay)  in  his  six  enormous  folio  volumes 

gathered  together  an  iminense  mass  of  material  for  his  history,  but 
his  own  view  of  its  origin  is  as  completely  mythical  as  anything  in 

"^The  University  of  Paris. 

^  Bulaeus,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  II,  pp.  225-226. 

^*  Hastings  Rashdall,  Universities  of  Europe  in  the  Middle  Ages  (1895). 
See  bibliographical  note  to  Vol.  I,  p.  271. 


22  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

the  first  decade  of  Livy  f^"  while  his  inaccuracies  and  inconsistencies 
are  only  equalled  by  his  tedious  prolixity.  He  was  perhaps  the 
stupidest  man  that  ever  wrote  a  valuable  book."  So  much  for 
Rashdall.  At  all  events,  if  we  apply  a  critical  test  to  Bulaeus, 
we  must  cease  to  quote  him  as  authority  in  matters  relative  to  the 
drama  or  patron  saints  of  scholars. 

Doubtless  the  scholars'  legend  has  occurred  to  some  as  evidence 
in  favor  of  regarding  St.  Nicholas  as  a  patron  of  scholars  before 
the  origin  of  the  Miracle  Play.  But  its  earliest  appearance  seems 
to  have  been  in  the  Hildesheim  drama.  And  apparently  the  first 
life  of  St.  Nicholas  ^^  that  contains  it  is  by  Wace,  written,  as  I 
have  already  stated,  some  forty  or  fifty  years  after  the  probable 
date  of  the  Hildesheim  Play.  Further,  Wace  distinctly  states  that 
this  miracle  is  the  cause  of  his  being  honored  by  students : 

"Por  ceo  que  as  clers  fist  tiel  honor 
Font  li  clerc  feste  a  icel  jor." 

Hence,  though  we  may  regard  the  drama  as  marking  the  ap- 
proximate time  at  which  St.  Nicholas  became  a  patron  of  scholars, 
we  should  avoid  forming  the  conclusion  on  the  basis  of  the  scholars' 
legend*"  that  the  Miracle  Play  originated  in  honor  of  him  or  of 
other  saints  as  patrons  of  scholars ;  for,  as  we  shall  see  later,  the 
origin  of  the  Miracle  Play  constitutes  a  problem  distinct  from  it. 
We  should  bear  in  mind,  also,  in  this  connection,  that  three  of  the 
four  themes  dramatized  concerning  St.  Nicholas  have  nothing  to  do 
with    his    relation    to    scholars.     Finally,    Monunicnta    Germaniae 

^^  This  certainly  does  not  speak  well  for  the  "vetustissima  consuetudo" 
regarding  the  plays  at  the  University  of  Paris  as  far  as  our  question  of 
origins  is  concerned. 

''For  concise  summary  of  incidents  contained  in  early  lives  see  appendix 
to  Kurt  K.  Rud.  Bohnstedt's  La  Vie  Saint  Nicholas,  altfr.  Gedicht  (Diss. 
Erlangen,  1897),  PP-  34-44;  and  especially  p.  38  with  reference  to  the  scholars' 
legend.  For  a  life  of  St.  Nicholas  (written  probably  between  965  and  989) 
not  mentioned  by  Bohnstedt  see  Anal.  Bolland.,  Vol.  II.  (1883),  pp.  143-151. 
This  does  ncKt  include  the  scholars'  legend.  The  earliest  hymn  which  I  have 
found  that  includes  it  is  of  the  twelfth  century  (see  Analecta  Hymnica, 
XXI  [1895],  p.  8s). 

*"For  my  suggested  theory  concerning  the  origin  of  the  scholars'  legend 
vide  infra,  chap,  rv,  p.  66,  footnote. 


ANALYSIS  OF  TRADITIONAL  THEORIES  23 

Historica  Scriptorum,  with  its  numerous  early  references  ^^  to 
St.  Nicholas  and  its  few  to  St.  Catherine,  contains  none  to  them 
as  patrons  of  scholars.  Thus  the  theory  regarding  St.  Nicholas 
and  St.  Catherine  as  specialized  saints  of  scholars  previous  to  the 
origin  of  the  Miracle  Play,  when  it  is  beaten  into  the  clear,  stands 
defenseless. 

But  with  regard  to  Dr.  Weydig's  theory  of  origins,  we  shall 
be  able  to  show,  I  think,  in  what  follows  that  these  plays  in  relation 
to  their  period  have  a  far  greater  significance  than  one  finds  in  con- 
sidering them  merely  as  a  casual  holiday  pastime  for  schoolboys. 
Dr.  Weydig  himself  suggests  the  right  method  of  arriving  at  the 
correct  solution  of  this  problem,  though  he  utterly  ignores  it  in  his 
dissertation.  In  the  opening  sentence  of  his  first  chapter  he  states 
that  in  forming  the  definition  of  Miracle  Play  we  have  gone  back 
too  little  to  the  point  of  view  of  the  times  out  of  which  it  arose. *^ 
This  is  exactly  the  difficulty.  Now  the  method  by  which  we  may 
approximate  the  desired  point  of  view  demands  the  following  pro- 
cedure : 

(i)  A  survey  of  the  times  in  which  the  Miracle  Play 
originated,  to  discover  what  influences  help  to  explain  its  origin. 

(2)  A  careful  examination  of  contemporary  documents  for 
the  purpose  of  discovering  and  interpreting  new  material  and  mak- 
ing, where  necessary,  fresh  interpretation  of  material  already 
employed. 

(3)  An  analysis  of  the  relation  between  the  dramas  already  ac- 
cepted as  Miracle  Plays  and  some  of  the  other  contemporar)' 
dramatic  representations. 

"  By  early  I  mean  the  period  reaching  to  the  first  quarter  of  the  twelfth 
century. 

*^  Weydig,  op.  cit.,  p.  7:  "Bei  der  Bestimmung  des  Mirakelspiels  ist  man 
meines  Erachtens  zu  wenig  auf  die  Anschauung  der  Zeiten  zuriickgegangen, 
aus  denen  es  stammt.  "The  opening  sentence  of  chapter  two  reads  (p.  12)  : 
"Bei  der  Zusammenstellung  des  Materials  fiir  diese  Ubersicht  war  zunachst 
die  ganze  Literatur  des  mittelalterlichen  Theaters  durchzusehen,  besonders 
die  des  15.  Jahrhunderts."  The  closing  words,  "besonders  die  des  15. 
Jahrhunderts,"  give  us  exactly  his  point  of  view  and  tlie  clue  to  his  failure. 
His  eyes  are  on  the  fifteenth  century,  when  the  miracles  de  Notre  Dame  are 
the  important  feature,  and  not  on  the  eleventh  century,  when  the  Miracle 
Play  had  its  origin. 


CHAPTER  III. 

The  Mediaeval  Point  of  View 

prefatory 

It  is  generally  recognized  that  the  reproduction  of  mediaeval 
life  presented  in  literature  during  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth 
centuries  by  such  romanticists  as  Scott  and  the  Pre-Raphaelites  is 
false.  For  our  purpose,  also,  the  point  of  view  presented  by  such 
mediaeval  productions  as  the  Chanson  de  Roland,  the  Roman  de  la 
Rose,  and  the  Chronicles  of  Villehardouin,  Joinville  and  Froissart 
is  misleading;  for  they  represent  primarily  the  idealized  and  ar- 
tificial aspects  of  the  periods  in  which  they  were  written.  In  this 
problem  of  dramatic  origins  the  important  factor  for  us  is  the 
every  day  life  of  the  people  of  the  Middle  Ages.  Here,  at  the 
beginning  of  this  chapter  on  the  mediaeval  point  of  view,  two  sig- 
nificant facts  should  be  emphasized :  first,  the  people  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  in  their  ways  of  thinking,  were  confused,  and  were  hindered 
from  clear  perceptions  by  defects  which  were  a  part  of  their  social 
order;  and  second,  they  were  essentially  practical,  their  motives 
were  primarily  utilitarian. 

At  the  close  of  the  last  chapter,  I  stated  that  the  Miracle  Flay 
in  its  beginnings  had  an  essential  relation  to  its  period,  which  Dr. 
Weydig  fails  entirely  to  comprehend  in  his  theory  of  a  casual 
origin  for  it.  It  is  the  purpose  of  this  chapter  and  the  following 
ones  to  show  that  our  type  of  drama  really  has  that  essential  rela- 
tion already  suggested,  and  that  the  influences  of  which  it  is  the 
logical  result  are  primarily  those  of  the  eleventh  century.  The 
following  is  a  brief  statement  of  my  plan  of  work: 

1.  First,  I  shall  show  relative  to  the  mediaeval  point  of  view: 
(i)  that  the  saints  sustained  a  vital  relation  to  the  people  and 
that  the  honoring  of  them  was  adapted  to  the  spirit  of  the  times ; 
(2)  that  the  significance  of  the  mediaeval  monastery  consisted  in 
its  corporate  entity;  and  (3)  that  the  age  was  one  of  unecclesiasti- 
cal  influences. 

2.  Further,  I  shall  show,  on  the  basis  of  evidence  relating  to 
St.  Nicholas,  that  his  miracle  plays  are  not  fortuitous,  but  in  form 
and  spirit  bear  an  essential  relation  to  the  features  just  mentioned. 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  POINT  OF  VIEW  25 

3.  Then,  I  shall  show,  relative  to  the  type,  that  other  con- 
temporar)'  Miracle  Plays,  not  yet  recognized  as  such,  support  the 
evidence  presented  in  the  case  of  the  St.  Nicholas  plays. 

4.  Finally,  I  shall  show,  in  connection  with  my  study  of  St. 
Catherine  and  her  play,  that  the  evidence  presented  there  harmonizes 
with  that  previously  given. 

In  the  present  chapter  I  shall  treat  only  the  first  of  the  main 
divisions  just  indicated. 

THE  CULT  OF  THE  SAINTS. 

The  first  question  in  order  is,  exactly  what  was  the  relation  of 
the  cult  of  the  saints  to  the  people  in  mediaeval  times?  As  a  pre- 
face to  a  direct  answer,  a  historical  resume^  of  the  cult  is  essential. 
Of  course,  in  its  origin  it  has  a  vital  connection  with  the  Christian 
religion ;  but  during  the  first  two  centuries  after  Christ  there  was 
no  idea  of  the  cult :  all  worship  was  to  the  glory  of  the  Saviour :  a 
celebration  of  his  miracles  and  an  extolling  of  his  promises.  The 
beginnings  of  the  cult  of  the  saints  are  to  be  sought  in  the  cult  of 
the  martyrs.  To  possess  the  crown  of  martyrdom  was  for  this 
epoch  of  faith  the  desire  of  the  most  simple  and  enthusiastic  of  men. 
They  wished  to  live  again  in  Christ.  And  the  wishes  of  large 
numbers  were  gratified  through  the  persecutions  of  the  early 
emperors.  The  martyrdom  of  these  heroes  made  a  profound  im- 
pression upon  the  faithful ;  and  they  could  not  forget  them.  More- 
over, the  leaders  proposed  them  for  models.  Soon  the  faithful  each 
year  celebrated  the  anniversaries  of  martyrs  and  rejoiced  in  their 
happy  birth  in  Christ.  No  churches  were  yet  raised  to  them  on  or 
near  their  tombs,  which  the  faithful  visited  only  on  the  day  of 
the  anniversary.  That  represents  a  later  development.  But  the 
cult  was  born;  the  Christian  people  prayed  for  the  martyrs  and 
bore  them  oblations  for  the  safety  of  their  souls.- 

^  In  the  historical  resume  which  follows  I  am  largely  indebted  to  A. 
Marignan's  valuable  study,  Le  Culte  des  Saints  sotis  les  Merovingiens  (In 
Etudes  sur  la  civilisation  Francaise,  Tome  Deuxieme,  Paris,  1899),  Le  Saint, 
pp.  1-31.  See  also  Dr.  Holentin  Thalhofer,  Handbuch  dcr  KathoUschen 
Liturgik,  zweite  Auflage  (Freiburg,  1912),  Vol.  I,  pp.  693-700;  Dr.  K.  A.  H. 
Kellner,  Heortologie  (Freiburg,  1906),  pp.  151  ff- ;  J-  Bd.udot,  Le  Martyrologe 
(Paris,  1911),  pp.  1-12. 

^Marignan,  op.  cit.,  p.  7  ("Les  Calendiers,  a  partir  du  quatrieme  siecle, 
indiquent  avec  soin  la  fete  du  martyr  et  le  nom  du  cimetiere  ou  il  repose") 
and  Kellner,  op.  cit.,  pp.  152-154  give  evidence  relative  to  the  activity  of  popes 
and  bishops  in  this  respect  during  the  third  century. 


26  NEW  THEORY  COXCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

Then  with  the  popular  movement  into  the  church  during  the  third 
century  the  cult  increased  and  the  bishops  counseled  the  believers  to 
note  exactly  the  anniversary  of  martyrs.  Calendars  were  drawn 
up  to  keep  a  record  of  those  who  died  in  the  faith.  Each  large 
community  preserved  such  a  calendar  of  martyrs.^  The  next  step 
was  the  transformation  of  the  Christian  religion.  The  new  con- 
verts came  to  regard  these  martyrs  as  divine  intercessors  for  them 
before  God  and  Christ.  In  its  turn  arose  the  conception  that 
martyrdom  gave  to  the  one  who  endured  it  a  supernatural  virtue. 
After  that,  everything  which  the  martyr  had  touched  was  collected 
with  care  and  became  a  precious  talisman  for  the  faithful.  Thus 
came  into  existence  the  cult  of  the  relics. 

It  was  at  this  period  that  the  doctrine  of  Christ  penetrated  more 
and  more  into  the  Occident,  and  that  evangelization  progressed 
rapidly  but  superficially.  It  was  necessary  that  the  converts  find 
in  the  Christian  sanctuary  that  which  paganism  had  given  them : 
protection  from  the  destructive  forces  in  nature  and  the  support 
of  the  Divinity  in  their  times  of  trouble.  The  popular  conception  of 
the  martyrs  gave  these  converts  the  assurance  of  such  divine  inter- 
mediators as  they  had  found  in  their  gods.  The  crowds  flocked 
to  the  suburban  cemeteries  of  Rome  to  celebrate  the  anniversaries 
of  Christian  heroes  at  their  tombs  and  to  implore  their  aid.  So 
great  did  these  crowds  become  that  churches  were  erected  beside 
the  cemeteries  to  accommodate  them.  'Tn  the  liturgies,  prayers 
for  the  saints  were  now  displaced  by  invocations  for  their  inter- 
cessions. In  this  the  people  found  a  compensation  for  the  loss  of 
hero,  genius  and  manes  worship."  * 

But  the  cult  of  martyrs  is  only  the  first  step  toward  the  cult 
of  the  saints.  In  the  fourth  century,  with  the  triumph  of  the 
Church,  martyrdom  became  rare.  Soon  there  were  added  to  the 
cult  ascetic  monks,  who  passed  their  lives  in  continued  internal 
struggle.  These  came  to  be  known  through  the  ascetic  literature 
of  the  fourth  century.     After  this  there  came  to  be  included  as 

^  Kellner,  op.  cit.,  p.  153 :  "Jede  grossere  Gemeinde,  vorab  die  Patriarchal- 
kirchen,  erhielten  ihren  Heiligenkalendar,  der  sich  im  Laufe  der  Zeit  mehr 
und  mehr  mit  Namen  fullte." 

*  Prof  essor  J.  H.  Kurtz,  Church  History  (Eng.  tr.  by  Rev.  John  Mac- 
pherson  [1888]),  Vol.  I,  p.  361. 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  POINT  OF  VIEW  2/ 

saints,  bishops  of  exemplary  life — men  who  had  rendered  them- 
selves dear  to  the  people  by  their  almsgiving  and  other  acts  of 
helpfulness.^  Miracles  proved  their  supernatural  power.  Thus  all 
these — martyrs,  ascetics,  and  holy  confessors — came  early  to  form 
the  cult  of  the  saints."'  And  by  the  Merovingian  epoch  there  was 
a  fixed  popular  conception  concerning  them.  At  the  celestial  court 
they  surrounded  the  thrones  of  God  and  Christ,  discussing  before 
them  the  demands  of  mortals  and  pleading  their  cause.  They  spoke 
without  ceasing  in  favor  of  the  inhabitants  where  their  cult  was 
honored  and  prayed  God  to  spare  the  faithful  who  addressed 
prayers  and  presented  gifts  to  them.  It  was  the  saints  who  watched 
over  men,  guided  and  counseled  them.  Above  all  the  saint  was 
a  protector  of  the  individual  or  community  that  honored  him. 
During  this  early  period  the  cult  of  the  saint  was  entirely  local. 
Relics  were  taken  by  worshippers,  but  the  saint's  power  was  pri- 
marily where  his  body  reposed. 

In  the  West  these  relics  were  at  first  any  objects  which  touched 
the  tomb  of  the  saint.  These  thus  acquired  the  power  of  operating 
the  same  miracles  as  were  performed  each  day  at  the  saint's  tomb. 
According  to  Marignan/  portions  of  the  body  were  rarely  taken 
as  relics  in  the  West  before  the  close  of  the  Merovingian  epoch, 
for  there  the  idea  of  bodily  resurrection  was  still  too  strong  to  admit 
of  such  violation.  A  church  decree  of  the  latter  eighth  century 
may  have  had  something  to  do  with  changing  this  attitude :  "The 
seventh  general  council  of  Nicea   (787)    forbade  the  consecration 

''Kellner,  op.  cit.,  p.  154:  "Die  offizielle  Heiligenverehrung  beschrankte 
sich  anfangs  denn  auch  auf  die  Martyrer.  Das  erste  Beispiel  der  offentlichen 
Verehrung  von  Heiligen,  die  nicht  Martyrer  waren,  sind  Papst  Silvester 
und  Martin  von  Tours,  indem  ihnen  zu  Ehren  unter  Papst  Symmachus  um 
500  in  Rom  eine  Kirche  erbaut  und  auf  ihren  Namen  geweiht  wurde,  die 
basilica  Silvestri  et  Martini." 

*  In  the  general  mediaeval  cult  were  included  also  apostles,  virgins, 
angels,  and  the  Mother  of  God. 

■^  Marignan,  op.  cit.,  pp.  215-216 :  "Nul,  qu'il  fut,  n'aurait  ose  soustraire  un 
membre,  une  partie  du  corps  du  saint,  et  Ton  s'explique  I'etonnement  du 
clerge  romain  en  presence  des  demandes  de  restes  des  Apotres  qui  leur 
etaient  adressees  par  les  empereurs,  il  ne  pouvait  comprendre  cette  coutume 
sacrilege.  (Cf.  Gregoire  le  Grand,  Epistola  Constantinae  Augustae,  III,  Epis- 
tol.  XXX :  'Cognoscat  autem  tranqidllissima  domina,  quia  Romanis  con- 
suetudo    non   est,   quaiido   sanctorum   reliquias   dant,   ut    quidquam   tangere 


28  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

of  churches  in  which  relics  ^  were  not  present,  under  pain  of  ex- 
communication." However  that  may  be,  we  know  that  by  the  be- 
ginning of  the  ninth  century  the  "exportation  of  bodies  of  martyrs 
from  Rome  had  assumed  the  dimensions  of  a  regular  commerce."^ 
It  was  during  this  period  that  churches  and  monasteries  in  the  West 
began  to  translate  bodies  of  martyrs  and  confessors  to  attract  the 
faithful  and  thus  increase  their  offerings. 

The  translation  of  St.  Fides  ^°  (Foy)  during  the  latter  ninth 
century  is  a  case  in  point.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years  (303  A.  D.) 
she  suffered  martyrdom  at  Agen  with  bishops  St.  Caprais,  St. 
Prime,  and  St.  Felicien.  In  the  fifth  century  their  remains  were 
secretly  collected  and  transferred  to  the  basilica  of  that  place.  Soon 
the  tomb  of  St.  Fides  became  celebrated  because  of  the  miracles 
performed  there,  and  pilgrims  came  from  distant  countries  to  it. 
During  the  ninth  century,  the  monastery  of  Conques  in  Rouergue 
commenced  to  be  celebrated.  Desiring  the  body  of  a  saint  to  at- 
tract the  faithful,  the  abbot  sent  some  of  its  monks  to  get  the  relics 
of  St.  Vincent  of  Sargossa;  but  on  their  way,  these  envoys  heard 
of  St.  Fides  and  decided  to  secure  her  relics.  Accordingly,  one  of 
their  number  became  a  secular  priest  at  Agen,  gained  the  confidence 
of  the  monks,  and  was  assigned  the  task  of  guarding  the  relics  of 
this  saint.  After  two  years  he  managed  to  steal  these  relics  and 
escape  with  them  to  Conques.     There  they  attracted  pilgrims  not 

praesumant  de  corpore ;  sed  tantummodo  in  Pyxide  brandeum  mittitur  atqiie 
ad  sacratissinia  corpora  sanctorum  ponitur.  Quod  levatum  in  ecclesia,  quae 
est  dedicanda,  debita  cum  veneratione  reconditur.'  Le  pape  ajoute :  'In 
Ronianis  namque  vel  totius  Occidentis  partibus  omnino  intolerabile  est  atque 
sacrilegium,  si  sanctorum  corpora  tangere  quisquam  fortasse  voliierit.  Quod 
si  praesumpserit,  certum  est  quia  hc^ec  temeritas  impunita  nulla  modo  remane- 
bit').  A  I'epoque  merovingienne,  les  testes  des  saints  donnes  comme  reliques 
etaient  done  fort  rares  et  dans  tons  les  documents  qui  nous  sont  parvenus, 
on  ne  pent  enregistrer  que  deux  ou  trois  cas  qui  prouvent  la  violation  du 
tombeau."   See  also  ibid.,  p.  223. 

*  Albert  Hauck,  Relics,  Encyc.  Brit.  Vol.  XXIII  (1911),  p.  60.  See  also 
N.  Delehaye,  Saints,  ibid.,  XXIII,  p.  iioi. 

"Herbert  Thurston,  Catholic  Encyc.  (1911),  Vol.  XII,  p.  737;  sources 
given. 

^'^  Liber  Miraculorum  Sancti  Fides  public  par  I'abbe  A.  Rouillet  (Collec- 
tion de  textes  pour  servir  a  I'etude  et  a  I'enseignement  de  I'Historie).  See 
introduction  for  account.     The  translation  took  place  about  878. 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  POINT  OF  VIEW  29 

only  from  surrounding  districts,  but  also  from  Aquitania,  France, 
and  all  Europe.  It  was  at  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century 
(1006)  that  Bernward,  bishop  of  Hildesheim,  made  a  pilgrimage  to 
St.  Martin's  at  Tours  and  St.  Denis'  at  Paris,  and  brought  back  to 
Hildesheim  the  relics  of  these  and  other  saints  for  his  monastery.'^ 

This  general  attitude  toward  relics  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
centuries  is  well  summarized  by  Professor  Warren.  "Quick  to 
take  advantage  of  the  general  enthusiasm  for  holy  things,  bishops 
vied  with  abbots  in  exalting  the  importance  of  their  charges.  The 
healing  power  of  relics  was  confidently  proclaimed,  and  measures 
were  taken  to  heighten  their  sanctity.  The  discovery  of  a  part  of 
Moses'  rod  at  Sens,  which  brought  to  that  city  a  goodly  influx  of 
worshippers  from  all  western  Europe,  and  incidentally  made  Sens 
and  its  see  opulent,  prepared  the  way  for  the  appearance  of  St. 
John  the  Baptist's  head  a  year  or  two  later  (loio)  at  St.  Jean 
d'Angely,  at  the  opportune  moment  of  the  return  of  William  of 
Aquitania  from  his  customary  pilgrimage  to  Rome.  Some  con- 
tentious minds  there  were  who  scouted  the  genuineness  of  the 
treasures,  but  the  visit  of  Robert  and  his  queen  to  the  sacred  spot, 
of  the  king  of  Navarre,  the  duke  of  Gascony,  the  count  of  Cham- 
pagne, not  to  mention  princes  and  bishops,  abbots  and  magistrates, 
French  and  Provencals,  Spaniards  and  Italians,  speedily  drove  the 

petty  critics  to  cover The  age  demanded  memorials  of 

the  martyred  dead,  or  at  least  the  communities  of  religion  did,  and 
the  demands  were  wonderfully  supplied."^-     About  a  century  later 

"  See  Pertz,  Monuuienta  Germaniae  Historica,  Scriptorcs,  Vol.  IV, 
PP-  77S-77(>  '•   Vita  Bernwardi  Episcopi  Hildesheimcnsis. 

"  F.  M.  Warren,  A  Plea  for  the  Study  of  Mediaeval  Latin,  P.  M.  L.  A., 
XVII  (new  series,  1909),  p.  liii.  Relics  had  another  important  use.  Oaths 
were  commonly  sworn  upon  them.  See  Marignan,  op.  cit.,  p.  226:  "Le  culte 
des  reliques  va  grandir  de  plus  en  plus  durant  le  moyen  age;  deja  il  penetre 
dans  la  vie  publique  et  tout  serment  ne  sera  tenu  pour  valable  s'il  n'est 
fortifie  par  la  saintete  de  ces  objects  veneres.  Les  rois  meme  ont  I'habitude 
d'un  porter  toujours  avec  eux,  et  les  sujets  des  princes  merovingiens  leur 
jurent  fidelite  sur  les  chasses  des  saints  (cf.  Labbe,  Concilia  V,  p.  27).  'Jura- 
verunt  antipositis  reliquiis  sanctorum.'  "  A  good  illustration  for  our  period  of 
the  usage  suggested  above  is  given  by  Orderic  Vitalis  (Historia  Ecclesiastic  a, 
Bk.  Ill,  chap,  xiv),  who  tells  of  William  the  Conqueror's  wearing  around 
his  neck  into  battle  the  sacred  relics  upon  which  Harold,  the  immediate 
successor  of  Edward,  had  sworn:  "Cujus  (Harold)  accelerationem  Willermus 
dux  ut  audivit,  omnes  suos  armari  mane  sabbati  iussit,  et  ipse  missam 
audivit,  et  dominicis  sacramentis  corpus  et  animam  munivit,  reliquiasque 
sanctas,  super  quas  Heraldus  juerat,  coUo  suo  humiliter  appendit." 


30  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

than  the  time  here  referred  to,  when  the  abbey,  St.  Medard  of 
Soissons,  sent  an  embassy  to  get  a  tooth  of  Christ,  Guibert  de 
Nogent,^^  with  a  keenness  of  analysis  practically  unknown  in  his 
time,  wrote  a  pungent  criticism  of  the  relic-seeking  mania  (ca. 
1119). 

L.  Petit  de  Julleville  ^*  has  indicated  the  practical  significance 
of  the  relics  of  the  saint  for  the  people  during  the  entire  mediaeval 
period.  In  connection  with  the  story  of  the  death  of  St.  Alexis  at 
Rome,  and  of  the  thronging  of  the  people  in  the  streets  to  touch 
the  saint's  body,  he  writes :  "Au  xe  siecle,  le  saint  est  avant  tout  un 
protecteur;  son  corps  ou  ses  reliques  materialisent,  pour  ainsi  dire, 

cette  protection Heureuse  la  cite  qui  renferme  les  reliques 

d'un  saint  et  qui  les  honore!  Ce  n'est  pas  le  lieu  de  sa  naissance 
ni  meme  lieu  de  sa  mort  qui  determine  les  limites  de  son  patronage ; 
c'est  le  lieu  de  sa  sepulture." 

Thus  the  saint  was  the  guardian,  the  intercessor,  for  the  people. 
He  was  one  of  the  most  potent  factors  in  making  the  Christian  re- 
ligion real  to  them.  His  relics,  as  we  have  seen,  were  an  absolute 
necessity  for  the  establishing  of  a  church,  abbey,  or  monastery. 
They  might  be  discovered  through  divine  vision,  begged,  or  stolen. 
That  mattered  not;  possession  was  the  important  thing.  In  the 
minds  of  the  devout,  all  the  activities  of  the  places  possessing  the 
relics  centered  about  them,  and  prospered  only  through  the  divine 
assistance  of  the  saint  or  saints  represented.  This,  then,  represents 
in  part  the  cult  of  the  saints  during  the  middle  ages. 

PILGRIMAGES  TO  SAINTS'  TOMBS. 

We  have  already  seen  that  it  is  the  attitude  toward  saints'  relics 
that  explains  in  part  the  religious  pilgrimages  in  the  middle  ages. 
According    to    legend,    they    began    about    326    A.    D.    with    the 

''See  Guibert  de  Nogent,  De  Pignoribns  Sanctorum  in  Patrologia  Latina, 
Vol.  CLVI,  cols.  607-679.  See  also  appreciation  and  study  by  Abel  Lefranc  in 
Eludes  sur  I'Histotre  du  Moyen  Age  dediees  a  Gabriel  Monod  {Paris,  1896)  pp. 
286-306.  To  the  contention  of  two  cities  that  each  possessed  the  head  of 
John  the  Baptist  Guibert  remarks  in  satirical  vein :  "Quid  ergo  magis  ridicu- 
lum  super  tanto  homine  praedicetur,  quam  si  biceps  esse  ab  utrisque  dicatur?" 
(P.  L.  op.  cit.,  col.  624.). 

"L.  Petit  de  Julleville,  Hist,  de  la  Langue  et  de  la  Litt.  frang.  {Paris, 
1896),  Vol.  I,  pp.  11-12. 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  POINT  OF  VIEW  31 

pilgrimage  of  Helena,  the  mother  of  Emperor  Constantine,  to  the 
Holy  Land  to  find  the  true  cross. ^^  From  that  time  the  East  became 
for  the  West  the  country  of  holy  relics.  One  has  but  to  read  the 
first  fifty  pages  of  M.  Brehier's  ^^  work  on  the  crusades  to  see  how 
the  pilgrimages  increased  from  the  fourth  to  the  close  of  the 
eleventh  century,  and  how  they  included  all  classes.  In  a  briefer 
study  on  the  same  subject  he  indicates  clearly  that  one  of  the  main 
factors  which  made  the  crusade  possible  was  the  attitude  toward 
holy  relics :  "Instead  of  diminishing,  the  enthusiasm  of  Western 
Christians  for  the  pilgrimages  to  Jerusalem  seemed  rather  to  in- 
crease during  the  eleventh  century.  Not  only  princes,  bishops, 
knights,  but  even  men  and  women  of  the  humbler  classes  undertook 
the  holy  journey  (Radulphus  Glaber  IV,  vi).  Whole  armies  of 
pilgrims  traversed  Europe,  and  in  the  valley  of  the  Danube  hospices 
were  established  where  they  could  replenish  their  provisions.  In 
1026  Richard,  Abbot  of  St.  Vannes,  led  700  pilgrims  into  Palestine 
at  the  expense  of  Richard  II,  Duke  of  Normandy.  In  1065  over 
12,000  Germans  who  had  crossed  Europe,  under  the  command  of 
Giinther,  Bishop  of  Bamberg,  while  on  their  way  to  Palestine  had  to 
seek  shelter  in  a  ruined  fortress,  where  they  defended  themselves 
against  a  troop  of  Bedouins  (Lambert  of  Hershfeld,  in  Mon.  Germ. 
Hist.  Script.  V.  168).  Thus  it  is  evident  that  at  the  close  of  the 
eleventh  century  the  route  to  Palestine  was  familiar  enough  to 
Western  Christians  who  looked  upon  the  Holy  Sepulchre  as  the 
most  venerable  of  relics  and  were  ready  to  brave  any  peril  in  order 
to  visit  it."  ^^  This  was  exactly  the  motive  to  which  Pope  Urban 
appealed  when  at  the  council  of  Clermont  he  spoke  in  behalf  of  the 
first  crusade:  "On  2y  November  (1095)  the  pope  himself  addressed 
the  assembled  multitudes,  exhorting  them  to  go  forth  and  rescue 
the  Holy  Sepulchre.  Amid  wonderful  enthusiasm  and  cries  of 
'God  wills  it !'  all  rushed  toward  the  pontiff  to  pledge  themselves  by 
vow  to  depart  for  the  Holy  Land."  ^* 

"Kellner,  op.  cit.,  p.  326. 

^*  L.  Brehier,  L'£.glise  et  L' Orient  an  Moyen  Age,  Les  Croisades  (Paris, 
1907).  See  especially  pp.  2t^  ff.  for  the  tenth  century,  and  pp.  42  ff.  for  the 
eleventh  centur>'. 

"  Crusades,  Cath.  Encyc,  Vol.  IV,  p.  545. 

^^  Ibid.,  p.  546. 


32  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

After  the  Orient,  Rome,  the  city  of  martyrs,  and  Santiago  de 
Compostela  in  Spain,  the  reputed  possessor  of  the  relics  of  St. 
James,  were  the  principal  meccas  for  the  European  world.  But 
aside  from  these,  there  were  numerous  shrines  containing  relics 
varying  from  local  to  international  interest.  The  cases  of  St.  Fides 
of  Conques,  St.  Martin  of  Tours,  and  St.  Denis  of  Paris,  already 
cited,  furnish  examples  of  this  kind,  and  the  list  of  names  could  be 
multiplied  indefinitely.  I  do  not  hold  that  this  was  the  only  motive 
inciting  people  to  go  on  these  pilgrimages ;  others  of  importance 
could  be  mentioned ;  but  they  have  nothing  to  do  with  our  present 
study.  The  main  point  to  emphasize  here  is  that  these  pilgrimages 
find  a  practical  significance  for  us  in  the  attitude  of  the  people  to- 
ward holy  relics,  and  toward  the  cult  of  the  saints ;  the  popular  at- 
traction for  the  pilgrims  was  the  shrine  of  the  saint. 

FESTIVALS    OF    SAINTS 

But  the  feature  in  connection  with  the  cult  which  the  Church 
emphasized  from  the  beginning  and  on  down  through  the  middle 
ages  was  the  anniversary  or  festival  of  the  saint.  This  feature 
found  official  recognition  first  in  the  local  calendars,  which  gave 
merely  the  names  of  the  saints,  and  the  dates  and  places  of  their 
feasts  (i.  e.  the  anniversaries  of  their  passions)  ;  for,  as  the  reader 
will  recall  from  a  previous  paragraph,  all  anniversary  services  in 
their  origin  were  purely  local. ^^  It  seems  that  the  breaking  down 
of  this  "restriction  of  festivals  to  those  commemorating  saints 
of  a  specific  locality",  came  about  through  the  entrance  of  the 
Franks  and  Anglo-Saxons  into  the  Roman  church.  Since 
these  nations  had  no  Christian  martyrs  and  saints  of  their  own, 
they  adopted  along  with  the  Roman  ritual  the  calendar  and  festi- 
vals of  the  Roman  saints.  Dr.  Kellner-°  thinks  that  "the  first 
step  toward  the  general  observance  of  the  cultus  of  particular 
saints  throughout  the  church,  and  the  admission  of  other  than 
merely  local  saints  to  a  place  in  the  devotions  of  each  commun- 
ity", may  have  been  aflfected  by  the  litanies  which  came  into  use 
in  France.    However  this  may  be,  the  significant  fact  for  us  is  that 

"  Kellner,  op.  cit.,  p.  i6o  mentions  as  exceptions  to  this  from  the  first  John 
the  Baptist  and  Stephen,  the  Protomartyr. 

^"Kellner,  0/).  n'r.,  pp.  158-159.  According  to  him,  the  oldest  form  of  litany 
of  the  saints  is  contained  in  the  prayer  book  of  Charles  the  Bald  (875-881). 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  POINT  OF  VIEW  33 

during  the  Carolingian  period  the  West  addressed  its  "era  pro 
nobis"  to  an  interminable  roll  of  martyrs,  confessors,  and  virgins. ^^ 
More  to  the  point  as  far  as  regards  the  official  recognition  of  Roman 
saints'  festivals  in  the  West,  is  the  fact  that  Pepin  (751-768)  re- 
placed the  Gallican  liturgy  with  the  Roman  and  thus  established  the 
Gregorian  calendar  with  its  feast  days  of  Roman  saints. ^^ 

With  regard  to  the  cult  of  Oriental  saints,  M.  Brehier-^  in  the 
course  of  an  interesting  study  on  Oriental  saints  in  the  West  sug- 
gests that  Syrian  merchants  may  have  introduced  them.  Though 
this  suggestion  furnishes  an  interesting  problem,  its  solution 
is  not  essential  to  our  present  study.  The  important  fact  for  us 
is  that  in  western  Europe,  long  before  the  origin  of  the  Miracle 
Play,  both  Oriental  and  Roman  saints  were  honored  on  feast  days 
and  as  patron  saints  sustained  a  vital  relation  to  the  people. 

In  this  connection,  the  special  emphasis  which  Dr.  Weydig  puts 
on  the  fact  that  the  Virgin  Mary  became  widely  honored  by  the 
Confreries  in  France  beginning  with  the  twelfth  century,  and  that 
they  gave  dramatic  presentation  of  her  legends,  furnishes  a  just 
cause  for  charging  that  he  has  failed  in  this  respect  to  get  the 
mediaeval  point  of  view.-* 

What  he  says  concerning  the  logical  result  of  honoring  her  as  it 
appears  in  the  dramatic  presentation  of  her  legends  is  to  the  point. 
But  the  inference  that  there  is  something  unique  in  the  establish- 
ment of  her  cult  and  the  diffusion  of  her  legends  through  the  West 
is  surely  misleading.  The  Mother  of  God,  an  Oriental  saint  in 
origin,  did  not  come  into  the  West  as  a  lone  wanderer.  The  gen- 
eral movement  which  made  Oriental  saints  popular  in  the  West  was 

^  P.  L.  CXXXVIII,  885-892  gives  examples. 

'"For  discussion  of  establishment,  list  of  feast  days  included,  and  ex- 
planation of  origin  of  feast  see  L'Abbe  A.  Collette,  Hist,  du  Breviaire  de 
Rouen  (Rouen,  1902),  pp.  33-57. 

^L.  Brehier,  Les  Colonies  d'Orientaux  in  Occident  an  Commencement 
du  Moyen  Age  in  Byzantinische  Zeitschrift,  Vol.  XII   (1903)',  PP-  35-36. 

^  Weydig,  op.  cit.,  p.  20.  See  especially :  "Die  oben  erwahnten  Marien 
'Anekdoten',  die  meist  griechischer  oder  iiberhaupt  orientalischer  Herkunft 
und  sehr  alt  waren,  wie  verschiedene  Beispiele  zeigen,  lieferten  zuerst  das 
Material  fur  die  theatralischen  Auffiihrungen ;  die  in  den  Confrerien  oder 
Puys  stattfanden,  wo  die  Marienverehrung  gepflegt  und  literarische  Wett- 
kampfe  an  den  Fasten  der  Mutter  Gottes  veranstaltet  wurden." 


34  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

well  established  by  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries,  and  naturally 
included  the  Virgin  Mary,  though  it  is  true  that  she  was  one  of  the 
most  popular.^^  The  logical  result  of  this  movement  was  the  estab- 
lishing of  a  new  fashion  in  European  literature :  the  writing  of  Latin 
lives  of  those  saints,  and  the  inventing  of  new,  marvelous  legends 
concerning  them.-*' 

There  is  another  significant  fact  for  us  which  the  modern  point 
of  view  has  caused  many  people  to  overlook :  according  to  the  medi- 
aeval popular  conception  every  saint  alike,  whatever  place  modern 
historical  criticism  has  given  him,  was  a  patron  or  intercessor  and 
a  protector.  Thus  from  a  popular  point  of  view,  in  the  same  class 
came  such  saints  as  Martial,  Denis,  Martin,  Nicholas,  Catherine, 
Lazarus,  Paul,  and  John  the  Baptist.  Take  the  case  of  St.  Mar- 
tial, bishop  of  Limoges  during  the  third  century,  as  an  illustration 
of  how  popular  conception  gave  him  a  place  beside  the  disciples  of 
the  Saviour.  I  quote  Leon  Clugnet's  words  :  "Very  early,  the  popular 
imagination,  which  so  easily  creates  legends,  transformed  St.  Mar- 
tial into  an  apostle  of  the  first  century.  Sent  into  Gaul  by  St.  Peter 
himself,  he  is  said  to  have  evangelized  not  only  the  Province  of 
Limoges  but  all  Aquitaine.  He  performed  many  miracles,  among 
others  the  raising  of  a  dead  man  to  life,  by  touching  him  with  a 
rod  which  St.  Peter  had  given  him.  A  'Life  of  St.  Martial'  at- 
tributed to  Bishop  Aurelian,  his  successor,  in  reality  the  work  of 
an  eleventh  century  forger,  develops  this  account.  According  to 
it.  Martial  was  born  in  Palestine,  was  one  of  the  seventy-two  disci- 
ples of  Christ,  assisted  at  the  resurrection  of  Lazarus,  was  at  the 

^  The  writings  of  Hroswitha  (b.  ca.  940,  d.  ca.  1002)  indicate  that  saints' 
legends  were  well  known  in  her  time ;  q.  v. :  Hrotsvithae  Opera,  recensuit  et 
emendavit  Paulus  de  Winterfeld  (Berlin,  1902). 

°"Here  again  Petit  de  Julleville  (Hist.,  Vol.  I,  p.  18)  summarizes  the  sit- 
uation for  us:  "Vers  le  xe  siecle,  les  vies  de  saints  orientaux,  jusque-la  peu 
connues  en  Occident,  se  repandirent  en  France  par  des  redactions  latines,  et 
I'imagination  emerveilee  en  regut  une  vive  secousse.  On  commence  dans 
mainte  abbaye  d'ecrire  la  vie  d'un  saint  patron,  dont  on  s'etait  contentee 
jusque-la  de  savoir  le  nom  et  de  venerer  les  reliques.  Les  documents  faisai- 
ent  defaut;  on  s'en  passa,  on  se  contenta  des  traditions  les  plus  vagues  et 
les  plus  lointaines ;  quelquefois  peut-ctre  on  se  passa  de  traditions  comme  de 
documents,  et  I'imagination  fit  tous  les  frais.  II  y  eut  certainement  de  grands 
abus  dans  ce  zele  hagiographique."  Petit  de  Julleville  also  calls  attention 
to  the  fact  that  Guibert  de  Nogent  denounces  this  practice. 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  POINT  OF  VIEW  35 

Last  Supper,  was  baptized  by  St.  Peter,  etc.  This  tissue  of  fables, 
which  fills  long  pages,  was  received  with  favor  not  only  by  the 
unlettered  but  also  by  the  learned  of  past  centuries  and  even  modern 
times."-'  I  call  attention  to  this  aspect  of  the  mediaeval  point  of  view, 
for  a  recognition  of  it  will  assist  much  in  the  interpretation  of  our 
problem. 

But  we  now  return  from  this  necessary  digression  to  the  char- 
acter of  the  saint's  feast.  In  its  origins,  as  the  reader  will  recall,  it 
was  a  solemn  memorial.  The  first  move  away  from  this,  after  the 
cult  of  saints  became  established  was  a  change  to  a  local  feast  -^  in 
honor  of  the  saint  to  whom  a  church  had  been  raised.  In  this 
connection,  Marignan's^^  chapter  on  the  feast  of  the  saint  has  one 
significant  fact  for  us,  viz.,  as  early  as  the  Merovingian  period 
the  feast  day  had  two  clearly  distinguishable  features,  the  ecclesias- 
tical and  the  unecclesiastical.  The  Church  furnished  the  ecclesi- 
astical in  religious  services  lasting  from  midnight  vigils  into  the 
evening  of  the  feast  day  itself.'^ 

The  people  furnished  the  unecclesiastical  in  informal  reunions, 
banquets,  dances,  orgies,  and  in  fairs  for  the  exchange  of  goods. 
Down  through  the  middle  ages  the  two  developed  side  by  side.  The 
Roman  breviaries  give  us  the  former;  and  the  repeated  prohibitory 
decrees  of  the  Church  regarding  various  folk  pastimes  on  feast 
days,'^^  and  especially  on  the  vigils,  show  that  the  latter  kept  pace. 

^  St.  Martial  in  Cath.  Encyc.  (1910)  Vol.  IX,  p.  722.  For  complete  con- 
temporary narrative  see  Ordcric  Vitalis,  op.  cit.,  Bk.  II,  chap.  xvii. 

"'  We  have  already'  seen  that  the  local  feast  in  time  became  general. 

^  Marignan,  op.  cit.,  pp.  107-154. 

^"Attention  should  be  called  here  to  the  manner  in  which  the  worship  of 
saints  asserted  itself  in  the  beginning.  At  first,  it  appeared  in  the  liturgy  of 
the  mass,  then  after  the  development  of  the  service  of  the  hours,  it  found  a 
place  there.  As  early  as  the  sixth  century,  iij  connection  with  this  service, 
it  was  customary,  according  to  Aurelian  of  Aries  (Regula  ad  Monachos, 
P.  L.  LXVIII,  p.  396),  to  read  a  portion  of  the  account  of  the  martyrdom 
of  a  saint.  This  was  the  commencement  of  the  lections  of  the  breviary,  and 
led  to  the  collections  of  martyrologies,  which  contained  lives  or  merely 
notices  of  the  saints,  arranged  according  to  their  feast  days  for  the  entire 
year.     See  Kellner,  op.  cit.,  pp.  246-247. 

"A  good  illustration  of  concessions  to  the  people  in  this  respect  is  given 
in  a  statement  of  Pope  Gregory  I.  regarding  the  celebration  of  feast  days 
by  the  early  converts  in  Britain.  The  Pope  is  writing  to  Abbot  Mellitus, 
just  going  into  Britain  (601  A.  D.)  :    "And  because  they  (the  converts)  have 


36  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

The  important  fact  to  bear  in  mind  here,  and  later  in  connection 
with  what  I  shall  say  concerning  the  origin  of  the  Miracle  Play,  is 
that  the  ecclesiastical  feature  will  constantly  tend  to  include  unof- 
ficial additions.  Some  of  these  will  become  official  and  others  will 
become  secular  or  unecclesiastical.  It  follows  that  the  trend  to  the 
secular  will  be  especially  strong  in  an  age  of  unecclesiastical  influ- 
ences. One  illustration  of  such  an  unofficial  addition  is  the  hymn,  as 
we  understand  the  term  today,  variously  known  during  the  middle 
ages  as  sequence,  prose,  or  hymn.  Concerning  hymns  L'Abbe  Col- 
lette^-  writes  that  they  were  not  introduced  into  the  Roman  liturgy 
until  very  late,  and  that  their  introduction  finally  was  due  to  mo- 
nastic influence.  The  time  at  which  this  introduction  took  place  is 
stated  pretty  definitely  by  another  writer.  Thus:  "It  was  at  a  com- 
paratively late  date  (about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  century)  that 
the  Roman  Liturgy  admitted  hymns  into  its  Breviary.  In  its 
primitive  austerity  it  had  rejected  them,  without  however  condemn- 
ing their  employment  in  other  liturgies. "^^ 

Now  hymns  were  one  part  of  the  religious  services  of  the  saint's 
festival.  For  instance,  we  find  that  during  the  tenth  and  eleventh 
centuries  the  monks  of  St.  Gall  on  the  feast  days  of  their  patron 
saints  went  through  the  surrounding  country  bearing  the  relics  be- 
longing to  their  monastry  and  singing  festal  songs. ^*  In  fact, 
one  has  but  to  go  through  the  pages  of  Analecta  Hymnica 
which  include  the  Proprium  de  Sanctis  to  see  that  hymns  were 
numerously  employed  for  saints'  feast  days  during  the  eleventh 
century. ^^ 

been  used  to  slaughter  many  oxen  in  sacrifice  to  devils,  some  solemnity  must 
be  exchanged  for  them  on  this  account,  as  that  on  the  day  of  the  dedication, 
or  the  nativities  of  the  holy  martyrs,  whose  relics  are  there  deposited,  they 

may celebrate   the   solemnity  with   religious   feasting,   and   no 

more  offer  beasts  to  the  Devil,  but  kill  cattle  to  the  praise  of  God  in  their 
eating,  etc."     Cf.  Bede,  Historia  Ecclesiastica,  Bk.  I,  chap.  xxx. 

'^  L'Abbe  Collette,  op.  cnt.,  p.  56. 

'^  Fernand  Cabrol,  Breviary,  Cath.  Encyc.   (1907),  Vol.  II,  p.  722. 

^  See  P.  A.  Schubiger,  Die  Sdngerschule  St.  Gallens  (Einsiedeln,  1858), 
p.  70. 

*°The  ninth  to  the  twelfth  centuries  represent  a  period  of  great  develop- 
ment in  feast  days.  Thus  Fernand  Cabrol  {loc.  cit.,  p.  721)  writes:  "Even 
up  to  the  ninth  century  the  feasts  of  saints  observed  in  the  breviary  were 
not  numerous."  But  concerning  the  twelfth  century  F.  S.  Holweck  {Cath. 
Encyc,  Vol.  VI,  p.  22)  tells  us  that  "the  decree  of  Gratian  (ca.  1150)  men- 
tions fortj^-one  besides  diocesan  patronal  celebrations." 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  POINT  OF  VIEW  37 

The  following  summary  from  a  passage  by  L'Abbe  Collette^® 
gives  further  examples  of  such  unofficial  additions  to  saints'  ser- 
vices. In  the  eleventh  century  there  was  in  Normandy  a  pleiad  of 
monks,  musicians,  and  litterateurs,  who  enriched  the  liturgy  of  Of- 
fices, of  which  the  usage  was  preserved  in  part  down  to  the  eight- 
eenth century.  Isembert,  monk  of  St.  Ouen  and  later  abbot  of 
Mount  St.  Catherine  at  Rouen,  wrote  the  text  and  music  of  the 
office  of  St.  Ouen  as  well  as  that  of  St.  Nicholas ;  and  Ainard,  of 
Mount  St.  Catherine,  composed  the  Office  for  the  patron  saint  of 
that  monastery.  From  that  same  period  date  the  Office  of  St.  Wul- 
fran,  composed  by  Angelran,  a  monk  of  Saint-Riquier,  and  those  of 
St.  Wandrille  and  St.  Ansbert.  There  is  attributed  to  Angelran  also 
an  Office  in  honor  of  St.  Valery.  As  later  evidence  will  show,  it  is 
just  such  embellishments-^^  as  these  that  are  of  prime  importance  in 
connection  with  the  origin  of  the  Miracle  Play. 

MEDIAEVAL   MONASTERIES 

Another  fact  of  importance  here  is  that  the  immediate  environ- 
ment of  the  Miracle  Play  in  its  origin  is  the  monastery.  The  first 
significant  feature  for  us  about  the  mediaeval  monastery  is  its  cor- 
porate character.  Although  the  monastery  had  been  originally 
designed  only  as  a  place  to  which  a  man  might  retire  from  the  world 
in  order  to  devote  himself  more  entirely  to  the  religious  life,  it 
came  in  time  to  include  many  activities  foreign  to  this  primitive 
idea.  A  brief  survey  of  some  of  these  will  be  sufficient  for  our 
purposes.  One  of  interest  and  importance  is  the  commercial.  Ac- 
cording to  M.  Fagniez,^*  the  early  history  of  commerce  in  France  is 
to  be  sought  in  connection  with  the  mediaeval  monasteries. 
Through  tax  exemptions  granted  them  by  the  crown  in  the  use  of 

*' L'Abbe  Collette,  op.  cit.,  pp.  64-65. 

*'  An  essential  difference  between  such  embellishments  as  the  hymn  and 
the  sequence  to  saints'  feast  day  services,  and  that  of  tropes  to  liturgical 
texts  (cf.  L.  Gautier,  Les  Tropes,  Paris,  1886)  is  that  the  sequence  is  not  an 
integral  part  of  the  text,  while  the  trope  is.  Clemens  Blume  (Trope,  Cath. 
Encyc,  [1912],  Vol.  XV,  p.  65)  puts  this  difference  in  a  word:  "The  se- 
quence is  an  independent  unit  complete  in  itself;  the  trope  however  forms 
a  unit  only  in  connection  with  the  liturgical  text,  and  when  separated  from 
the  latter  is  often  devoid  of  meaning." 

^*W.  Gustave  Fagniez,  Documents  Relalifs  a  I'Histoire  de  I' Industrie 
el  du  Commerce  en  France;  I-I.  siccle-xiiis.     (Paris,    1898),  pp.   xxviii   ff. 


38  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

highways,  through  their  locations  favorably  chosen,  through  their 
landed  possessions,  and  under  the  guidance  of  intelligent  monks 
they  exerted  a  great  influence  on  the  development  of  this  feature 
of  mediaeval  life.  Another  of  the  monastic  activities  concerning 
which  M.  Fagniez  gives  valuable  evidence  is  the  industrial.  As  an 
example  of  this  sort  he  cites  the  case  of  the  industrial  organizations 
which  centered  around  Saint-Riquier.  There  by  the  middle  of  the 
ninth  century  were  bakers,  merchants,  blacksmiths,  armorers,  shoe- 
makers, and  various  other  tradesmen  grouped  according  to  their 
trades  by  streets  around  the  abbey,  subjects,  paying  a  regular  tax  of 
their  goods  to  it.^^  An  additional  instance  of  the  same  kind  is  fur^ 
nished  by  a  chronicler  of  St.  Bertin.*°  He  tells,  according  to  Fagniez, 
that  in  88i,  after  the  destruction  of  that  abbey  by  fire,  St.  Folques, 
its  restorer,  arranged  the  population  by  trades  in  the  same  manner 
as  indicated  in  the  case  of  Saint-Riquier;  and  later  chronicles  of 
the  abbey  refer  to  the  same  arrangement.  Again,  when  Bernard 
de  Quincey  founded  the  monaster}^  of  Saint-Sauveur  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  twelfth  century,  the  faithful  flocked  there  and  put 
themselves  under  its  authority.  Among  these  were  handworkers 
and  skilled  tradesmen,  such  as  carpenters,  blacksmiths,  metal 
workers,  and  sculptors.  All  these  worked  under  the  orders  of  the 
abbey  and  employed  their  gains  for  common  use.  ^^  M.  Fagniez 
summarizes  the  situation  thus :  It  was  then  under  the  tutelage  of 
the  church  that  the  first  craft  corporations  were  organized  and, 
strange  thing,  commenced  to  be  secularized.  *-  He  shows  also  with 
regard  to  the  arts  and  trades  that  from  the  sixth  to  the  twelfth 
centuries  there  was  a  constant  interchange  of  skilled  metal  and 
trade    workers    among    the    different    monasteries    of    Europe. *■' 

^  Ibid.,  pp.  XXX,  xxxi.  For  source,  see  Latin  appendix  Xo.  7:  Inventaire 
des  cens  et  redevances  dus  a  I'ahhaye  de  Saint  Riquier  {en  831)  dans  Hariulf 
chronique  de  I'Ahhaye  de  Saint  Riquier. 

^ Ibid.,  p.  xxxii.  Source:  Jean  d'Ypres  Citron.  Sancti  Bertini  an.  881 
in  Histoire  de  France,  p.  71  A;  also  75. 

*^  Ibid.,  xxxiii.     Cf.  Orderic  Vitalis,  Hist.  Eccl.,  lib.  viii. 

*^  Ibid.,  xxxiii. 

*^  Ibid.,  p.  xxxxiv,  xxxv.  An  instance  not  cited  by  Fagniez  of  the  activity 
of  a  monastery  in  arts  and  trades  is  that  of  Hildesheim,  the  home  of  the 
eleventh  century  manuscript  of  our  St.  Nicholas  plays.  It  had  its  period  of 
great  renown  during  the  eleventh  century.  Cf.  Cath.  Encyc.  (1907),  Vol.  II, 
p.  513;    ibid.,  (1910),  Vol.  VII,  pp.  353-354- 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  POINT  OF  VIEW  39 

Another  of  the  activities  of  the  monastery  was  educational.  Accord- 
ing to  Leon  Maitre,**  who  has  made  a  study  of  this  feature  of 
mediaeval,  monastic  life,  the  monastic  and  episcopal  schools  are 
the  only  institutions  which  furnished  instruction  from  the  ninth  to 
the  thirteenth  century;  he  designates  this  as  the  Benedictine  period 
of  instruction. 

The  monastery  is  thus  a  commercial,  industrial,  cultural,  and 
educational  center.  The  religious  activity  is  the  only  other  one 
significant  for  our  purposes.  A  discussion  of  its  various  features 
is  not  necessary  here.  The  important  fact  to  remember  is  that  the 
dominant  and  centralizing  force  for  all  the  activities  of  the  mon- 
astery was  its  religious  life.  The  religious  services,  the  shrines  of 
the  patron  saints,  and  their  festivals — these  were  the  unifying 
features.  Thus  individuals  may  have  had  special  reasons  for  honor- 
ing a  particular  saint,  but  in  their  relation  to  the  monastery  its 
patron  saint  was  theirs.  As  far  as  our  study  is  concerned,  we  are 
dealing,  not  with  the  saints  of  a  particular  profession,  but  of  a 
particular  locality.  And  although  our  earliest  Miracle  Plays  de- 
veloped in  connection  with  monastic  schools,  there  is  no  conclusive 
evidence  that  they  originated  out  of  a  desire  to  honor  patrons  of 
scholars.  Relative  to  our  type  of  play,  you  may  call  it  monastic 
literary  drama,  school  drama,  or  what  you  will;  the  question  I  am 
concerned  with  is,  what  is  its  relation  to  the  local  cult  of  the  saint, 
and  particularly  to  his  feast?  The  evidence  presented  in  the 
following  chapter  should  leave  no  doubt  as  to  its  actual  relation. 
Finally,  the  other  significant  influence  for  us  in  connection  with 
the  mediaeval  monastery  is  that  of  the  Cluniac  reform.  As  a  result 
of  this  movement  initiated  in  the  tenth  century  hundreds  of  mon- 
asteries became  united  in  great  feudal  organizations  reaching  over 
all  Europe  and  England.*^  I  merely  call  attention  to  the  movement 
here.  As  will  be  seen  later,  it  is  a  factor  to  be  considered  in  con- 
nection with  the  origin  and  development  of  the  Miracle  Play. 

""Leon  Maitre,  Les  Ecoles  Episcopales  et  Monastiques  de  L'Occident  de- 
puis  Charlemagne  jusqu'a  Philippe  Auguste  (Paris,  1866),  pp.  173-174. 

^The  standard  work  on  this  movement  is  Ernst  Sackur's  Die  Clunia- 
censer  (Halle,  1892),  two  vols.    Reviewed  in  English  Historical  Review,  Vol. 

X,  pp.  137-138- 


40  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

THE   MEDIAEVAL   RENAISSANCE 

The  period  of  the  origin  and  development  of  the  Miracle  Play, 
as  I  have  already  stated,  is  that  of  the  mediaeval  renaissance,  in- 
cluding in  general  the  last  half  of  the  eleventh  and  the  first  half  of 
the  twelfth  centuries.  In  this  period,  which  in  a  sense  marked 
a  turning  to  a  modern  point  of  view  in  the  problems  attacked  and 
ways  of  thinking,  one  main  characteristic  is  clear  even  to  the  casual 
reader ;  it  is  an  age  of  unecclesiastical  influences.*^  The  significant 
thing  for  us  is  the  relation  of  these  influences  to  monastic  life. 
Thus  in  connection  with  the  schools,  Wattenbach  *^  tells  us  that  it 
was  a  period  in  which  a  zealous  study  of  Roman  antiquity  vied 
with  that  of  theology,  and  that  men  were  completely  at  home 
in  the  Aeneid  and  in  Ovid.  A  good  example  of  such  a  man,  in- 
fluential in  monastic  life,  is  Hezilo,  Bishop  of  Hildesheim  (1054- 
1079).  After  he  had  completed  his  studies  in  France  and  taken 
charge  of  the  monastery  at  Hildesheim,  he  assumed  charge  of  the 
instruction  in  the  school  there  because  of  his  excellent  education, 
especially  in  his  extensive  acquaintance  with  the  works  of  classic 
authors.*® 

Of  course  there  were  many  factors  that  assisted  in  establishing 
this  renaissance  spirit  within  the  monasteries.  Undoubtedly  one 
of  the  most  important  of  these  was  the  secular  scholars.  As  young 
men,  unfettered  by  monastic  rules,  often  irreverent  of  traditions, 

"  By  unecclesiastical  influences  I  do  not  mean  those  outside  of  the 
Church.  The  all-inclusiveness  of  the  mediaeval  church  practically  excludes 
the  possibility  of  any  influence  of  an  intellectual  nature  entirely  outside  it. 

*''W.  Wattenbach,  Lateinische  Gedichte  atis  Frankreich  im  el  ft  en  Jahr- 
hundert  in   Sitcungsberichte  der  Berliner  Akad.    (1891)',  p.  97. 

**  Cf.  Th.  Lindner,  Allegemeine  Deutsche  Biographie,  Vol.  XII,  p.  323: 
"Auch  die  Pflege  des  Schulenunterrichtes  liess  er  sich  anlegen  sein,  wie  er 
selbst  eine  vortreffliche  Bildung  und  Belesenheit  in  den  classischen  Autoren 
besass".  I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that  Latin  classics  were  not  taught  in 
monastic  schools  before  this  period.  At  the  close  of  the  tenth  century  Richer 
(Hist,  sui  Temp.,  Lib.  Ill,  cxlvii)  wrote  concerning  his  teacher,  Gerbart 
of  Rheims,  later  Pope  Sylvester  II :  "Portas  igitur  adhibuit,  quibus 
assuescendos  arbitrabatur.  Legit  itaque  ac  docuit  Maronem  et  Statium 
Terentiumque  poetas,  Juvenalem  quoque  ac  Persium  Horatiumque  satiricos, 
Lucanum  etiam  historiographum.  Quibus  assuefactos,  locutionumque  modis 
compositis,  ad  rhetoricam  transduxit."  My  point  is  this :  a  widespread, 
zealous  study  of  Latin  classics  was  characteristic  of  this  age. 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  POINT  OF  VIEW  4I 

human  in  all  that  the  word  implies,  eager  alike  in  the  pursuit  of 
knowledge  and  adventure,  they  wandered  from  school  to  school 
seeking  instruction  from  the  most  famous  teachers  of  the  day,  carry- 
ing with  them  everywhere  something  of  the  spirit  of  the  forces 
in  the  world  outside  the  monasteries  that  were  humanizing  and 
transforming  society.  Some  of  these  wandering  scholars  remained 
such,  others  took  the  vows  of  the  order  and  came  in  time  to  rank 
high  in  monastic  and  secular  ecclesiastical  affairs.  But  however 
zealous  they  might  afterwards  become  in  the  monastic  life,  and 
however  much  age  might  sober  down  their  youthful  spirits,  the 
renaissance  had  given  them  its  permanent  heritage  of  liberalizing 
influences.  They  were  the  leaven.  In  these  men  there  blended 
the  ecclesiastical  and  the  unecclesiastical.*^ 

Notable  examples  of  the  class  here  characterized  are  Hilarius 
(ca.  1 1 25),  the  author  of  one  of  our  St.  Nicholas  plays,  Odo  of 
Orleans,  bishop  of  Tournai  (d.  1119),  Lanfranc,  archbishop  of 
Canterbury  (1005-1089),  Geoffrey,  abbot  of  St.  Albans  and  author 
of  the  lost  St.  Catherine  play  (d.  1146),  and  Abelard,  the  great 
teacher  (1079-1142).  A  few  words  on  the  life  of  each  of  these 
men  will  suffice  here.     Little  is  known  concerning  Hilarius  :^°  proba- 

*'  P.  S.  Allen's  comments  on  the  goliards  are  pertinent  here  (Mediaeval 
Latin  Lyrics,  Modern  Philology,  Vol.  V,  p.  22)  :  "As  early  as  the  tenth 
century  perhaps,  but  quite  certainly  as  early  as  the  eleventh,  we  know  that 
the  goliards  were  composing  and  singing  Latin  verses.  I  do  not  think  it 
necessary  to  believe  with  Giesebrecht  that  the  goliard  movement  originated 
in  the  schools  of  France  during  the  twelfth  century,  but  it  may  be  well  to 
imagine  that  it  was  there  and  at  that  time  that  the  movement  gained  its 
greatest  impetus  and  its  widest  currency".  Cf.  also  Allen,  The  Origins  of 
the  German  Minnesang,  Mod.  Phil.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  19,  relative  to  the  character 
of  the  goliards. 

In  this  same  connection,  Creizenach  (Geschichte,  Vol.  I,  p.  93)  believes 
that  the  introduction  of  comic  and  secular  elements  into  the  liturgical  plays 
was  due  to  wandering  clerks  and  goliards. 

"Tor  summary  of  opinions  of  scholars  regarding  his  nationality  see 
P.  S.  Allen,  Med.  Latin  Lyrics,  Mod.  Phil.,  Vol.  VI,  p.  72,  footnote  3. 
For  discussion  of  his  non-dramatic  poetical  works  see  Ibid.,  pp.  72-76.  For 
brief  biography  see  Hist.  Litt.  dc  la  France,  Vol.  XII,  pp.  251-254,  and  Diet. 
Nat.  Biog.,  Vol.  IX,  p.  831.  Professor  Schofield,  Eng.  Lit.  from  the  Norman 
Conquest  to  Chaucer  (1906),  p.  67  puts  his  significant  characteristic  in  a 
brief  sentence :  "He  seems  to  have  been  a  full-blooded  person  without 
austerity." 


42  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

bly  he  was  born  in  England.  The  significant  fact  is  that  we  know 
he  received  instruction  from  Abelard  (ca.  1125)  at  Paraclete,  and 
went  from  there  to  the  school  at  Angers  to  carry  on  his  study. 
His  history  from  this  time  is  as  obscure  as  that  of  his  early  years, 
but  he  apparently  remained  to  the  end  a  typical  wandering  scholar. 
Odo  of  Orleans  led  a  much  more  regular  life.  He  was  born  of  a 
noble  family  in  Orleans,  received  his  training  at  Toul,  and  later 
became  teacher  of  dialectics  at  Tournai.  Then  in  1092  he  took 
the  vows  of  the  Cluniac  order  and  became  abbot  of  St.  Martin's; 
and  in  1 105  he  became  bishop  of  Tournai,  which  office  he  held  until 
his  death. ^^  Lanfranc's  career  was  similar  though  somewhat  more 
varied.  He  also  was  of  noble  birth ;  his  parentage  was  Italian.  In 
early  life  he  studied  in  the  different  schools  in  Italy  with  the  inten- 
tion of  entering  the  legal  profession."  But  just  as  he  was  begin- 
ning to  win  fame  in  the  work,  he  changed  his  mind,  and  deciding  to 
enter  religious  life,  traveled  across  Europe  to  Normandy  to  begin 
this  new  life  in  a  foreign  country,  took  the  vows  of  the  order  under 
Herluin  at  the  newly  founded  monaster}^  of  Bee,  became  first  a  fa- 
mous teacher  there,  then  abbot,  and  finally,  under  William  the  Con- 
queror, received  appointment  as  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  Mat- 
thew Paris'  brief  account  of  Geoft'rey  of  St.  Albans,  as  secular 
teacher,  monk,  and  abbot  in  a  passage  already  quoted  ^^  puts  him  in 
the  same  class  with  the  man  just  mentioned.  And  finally,  the  story 
of  Abelard's  life,  in  its  essence  an  epitome  of  the  spirit  of  the  renais- 
sance, is  too  well  known  to  need  more  than  a  passing  mention  here.^* 
I  should  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  in  his  heretical  teachings  he 

^  Cf.  Hist.  Lift,  de  la  France,  Vol.  IX,  pp.  583-606.  Wattenbach's  state- 
ment concerning  him  is  relevant  here  {op.  cit.,  p.  100)  :  "Es  ist  der  nicht 
seltene  Lebensgang  der  Gelehrten  in  jener  Zeit.  Von  profanen  Studien  aus- 
gehend,  ganz  in  der  heidnischen  Gotterwelt  heimisch,  auch  nicht  selten 
einem  allzu  freien  Leben  ergeben,  warden  sie  plotzlich  von  der  Gewalt  des 
monchischen  Geistes  erfasst  und  wenden  sich  der  strengsten  kirchlichen 
Richtung  zu". 

^  Cf .  Orderic  Vitalis,  Hist.  Eccl.,  lib.  IV :  "Hie  ex  nobili  parentela  ortus, 
Papiae  urbis  Italiae  civibus,  ab  annis  infantiae  in  scholia  liberaHum  artium 
studuit,  et  saecularium  legum  peritiam  ad  patriae  suae  morem  intentione 
laica  fervidus  edidicit."  See  also  Hist.  Litt.  de  la  France,  Vol.  VIII,  pp. 
260-305. 

'■'  Vide  supra,  chap,  i,  p.  5. 

"Cf.  Hist.  Litt.  de  la  France,  Vol.  XII,  pp.  86-152. 


THE  MEDIAEVAL  POINT  OF  VIEW  43 

exemplifies  in  its  highest  degree  one  aspect  of  the  unecclesiastical 
influence.  The  important  consideration  for  us  in  this  brief  survey 
is  that  these  men  of  the  monasteries  represent  a  new  spirit,  the 
spirit  of  the  renaissance. 

It  is  but  natural,  that  in  harmony  with  the  spirit  of  such  men  as 
these,  the  mediaeval  renaissance  was  a  great  creative  period.  This 
fact  is  too  well  known  to  need  more  than  mere  mention.  On  mat- 
ters having  special  relation  to  our  problem  I  cite  the  evidence  of 
some  of  our  well-known,  and  recognized  mediaevalists.  Clemens 
Blume  calls  it  the  period  of  the  zenith  of  Latin  hymnody."''  L'Abbe 
Collette  has  named  a  few  of  the  "pleiad"  of  Norman  monks,  musi- 
cians and  poets,  who  modified  and  enriched  the  liturgy  of  the  saints' 
Offices  during  this  century,  and  has  indicated  some  of  their  work  in 
this  respect.^^  Professor  Wilhelm  Meyer  writes  that  music,  also, 
was  making  significant  progress,"^  that  it  had  an  essential  relation  to 
the  spirit  of  the  times,^^  and  that  it  had  a  necessary  part  in  all 
Mediaeval  Latin  Lyric  and  dramatic  poetry.^^ 

^  Hymnody,  Catholic  Encyc.   (1910),  Vol.  VII,  p.  603. 

^  Vide  Supra,  chap,  iii,  p.  37. 

"See  Fragmenta  Biirana  (Berlin,  1901),  p.  56:  "In  der  ersten  Halfte  des 
12.  Jahrhunderts  entwickelte  sich  das  geistige  Leben  jeder  Art  im  nordlichen 
Frankreich  zu  wunderbarer  Bliithe.  Die  Musik  machte  durch  Einfiihrung 
der  mehrstimmigen  Compositionen  bedeutende  Fortschritte  und  wurde  mit 
dem  grossten  Eifer  von  den  sangesfreudigen  Menschen  jener  Zeit  ausgetibt 
und  an  der  Hand  der  Musik  betraten  auch  die  EKichter  neue  Wege". 

^  Ibid.,  p.  179 :  "Der  Geist  des  franzosischen  Volkes  regte  sich  am 
Schlusse  des  11.  Jahrhunderts  auf  das  Lebhafteste  und  wendete  sich  be- 
sonders  auf  die  Wissenschaften,  welche  die  hochsten  Fragen  behandelten, 
die  Philosophic  und  die  Dogmatik.  Die  geistigen  Kampfe,  welche  sich  in 
Frankreich  daran  kniipften  und  besonders  durch  die  Griindung  der  Uni- 
versitat  Paris  ein  festes  Centrum  erhielten,  stellten  in  12.  Jahrhundert 
Frankreich  den  anderen  europiiischen  Volkern  voran.  Denn  wo  die  hochsten 
Wissenschaften  gedeihen,  da  gedeihen  auch  die  tibrigen.  Das  gilt  besonders 
von  der  Dichtkunst.  Diese  erhielt  einen  neuen  und  machtigen  Impuls  durch 
die  Einfiihrung  des  mehrstimmigen  Gesangs,  der  in  Frankreich  im  Anfange 
des  12.  Jahrhunderts  aufbliihte.  Wurde  so  schon  die  Lust  in  prachtigen 
Festgesangen  jeder  Art  erhabt". 

^'Ibid.,  p.  37:  "Mogen  die  Handschriften  Neumen  oder  Noten  iiberliefern 
odernicht,  die  ganze  mittellateinische  lyrische  und  dramatische  Dichtung 
ist  stets  ihrem  Ursprunge  treu  geblieben,  d.  h.,  sie  ist  gesungen  worden  und 
die  dichterischen  und  musikalischen  Formen  waren  ebenso  wichtig  wie  die 
Gedanken". 


44  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

Finally,  it  is  well  to  reca-11  here  relative  to  the  creative  spirit,  that 
the  eleventh  oentury  also,  according  to  Joseph  Bedier,*"'  marks  the 
period  of  the  Chanson  de  Geste,  and  that  he  has  established  this  fact 
conclusively  by  a  return  to  the  mediaeval  point  of  view  in  his  study 
of  the  Chanson  de  Geste  at  its  source  in  connection  with  monaster- 
ies, pilgrimages,  and  legends  of  saints. 

'"  Cf.  Joseph  Bedier,  Les  Legendes  £piques:  Recherches  sur  la  formation 
des  Chansons  de  geste  (1908-1913),  four  vols.;  and  La  Legende  des 
Enfances  de  Charlemagne  in  Studies  in  Honor  of  A.  Marshall  Eliot  (Balti- 
more, 1911),  pp.  81-107.  For  brief  summary  of  Bedier's  work  relative  to 
the  Chanson  de  Geste  see  G.  Lanson,  Histoire  de  la  Litterature  Franqaise 
(Paris,  1912),  pp.  25  flf. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

St.  Nicholas  and  His  Miracle  Plays 
The  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  show  that  there  is  an  essential 
and  causal  relation  between  the  features  of  mediaeval  life  just  dis- 
cussed and  the  origin  of  the  St.  Nicholas  Miracle  Play.  As  a  pref- 
ace to  this  study  I  review  briefly  the  St.  Nicholas  legend.  Accord- 
ing to  it,  St.  Nicholas  was  bishop  of  Myra,  Asia  Minor,  during  the 
first  half  of  the  fourth  century.  During  his  life  he  was  especially 
noted  as  a  benefactor  of  the  people.  As  an  instance  of  this,  one  of 
his  first  acts  after  he  had  received  his  inheritance  was  the  bestowal 
of  dowries  upon  three  sisters  in  the  manner  represented  in  our 
"dowry"  drama,  in  order  to  save  their  virtue.  After  his  death^  and 
burial  at  Myra,  he  continued  his  role  of  benefactor  through  his  ap- 
pearance to  those  praying  to  him,  and  through  the  miraculous  power 
of  healing  oil  which  continually  flowed  from  his  tomb."  A  historical 
fact  of  importance  to  add  here  is  that  in  1087  Italian  merchants  stole 
his  body  from  Myra  and  brought  it  to  Bari,  Italy.^ 

THE   CULT  OF  ST.    NICHOLAS 

Relative  to  his  cult  in  Western  Europe  the  following  table  will 
show  his  principal  loci  sancti  in  that  part  of  the  country  up  to  the 
period  of  the  appearance  of  his  plays. 

^  The  day  of  his  death,  which,  of  course,  fixes  that  of  his  feast  day  in 
the  calendar,  was  December  6. 

■  Since  the  Acta  Sanctorum  of  the  Bollandists  is  completed  only  through 
the  opening  days  of  November,  that  work  is  of  no  assistance  to  one  for 
the  study  of  the  St.  Nicholas  legends.  The  sources  which  I  have  employed 
for  the  study  of  the  legends,  of  his  cult,  and  of  the  honoring  accorded  to 
him  on  his  feast  day  are  principally  the  following:  Analecta  Bollandiana 
(1882  ff.)  Vol.  I-XXXI ;  Bibliotheca  Hagiographica  Latina  (Bruxelles,  1899), 
Vol.  I-II;  ibid.,  supplement  (1911)  ;  Catalogus  Codd.  Hagiog.  Lat.  {Bruxelles 
1886),  Vol.  I-II;  Catalogus  Codd.  Hagiog.  Bibl.  Nat.  (Paris,  1889-1893), 
Vol.  I-III ;  Monumenta  Germaniae  Historica,  Scriptores,  Vol.  I-XXXI ; 
Thesaurus  Hymnologicus,  H.  A.  Daniel  (Leipsic,  1855),  Vol.  I-IV;  Latein- 
ische  Hymnen  des  Mittlelalters,  F.  J.  Mone,  (Freiburg,  1855),  Vol.  I-III; 
Analecta  Hymnica,  G.  M.  Dreves  and  Clemens  Blume  (Leipsic,  1886  ff.) 
Vol.  I  ff.     See  also  Kurt  K.  Rud.    Bohnstedt,  op.  cit.,  pp.  34-44. 

*  Orderic  Vitalis,  op.  cit.,  Bk.  VII,  chap,  xii,  gives  an  interesting  con- 
temporary account.  For  recent  study  see  Francesco  Nitti  di  Vito,  La  Leg- 
enda  della  Translatione  di  S.  Nicola  di  Bari,  I.  Mariani  Travi  V.  Vecchi 
(1902),  19  pp.;  Estratto  della  Rassegna  Pugliese  t.  xix  (1902),  pp.  33-49; 
reviewed  in  Anal.  Bolland.  Vol.  XXII  (1902),  pp.  352-354- 


46 


NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 


Germany. 


District 


Place 


Date. 


West       St.  Amandus*.     Ca.  50  miles  s.  w.  of 

Liege.  679  A.  D. 

Lorraine    Priim^     Ca.  40  miles  s.  e.  of  Liege.     853  A.  D. 

Brunweiler®.   Ca.  50  m.  n.  e.  of  Liege.  1028  A.   D. 
Liege^.  1030  A.  D. 

Stavelot'.    Ca.  20  m.  n.  e.  of  Liege.      1030  A.   D. 
Stavelot*.  1037  A.  D. 

Verdun".    District   of   Lorraine.  1045  A.  D. 

Lobbes".  Ca.  60  m.  s.  w.  of  Liege.  Ca.  1080 

A.  D. 
Poussey'^.     District  of  Lorraine.  Ca.  1087 

A.  D. 
Brunweiler^.     See  above.  1090  A.  D. 

North 
Saxony     Halberstadt".    Ca.  50  m.  s.  e.  of  Hil- 

desheim.  973  A.  D. 

Liineburg^^   Ca.  80  m.  n.  of  Hildes- 

heim.  1055  A.   D. 

Osnabruck".    Ca.  80  m.  n.  w.  of  Hil- 

desheim.  1070  A.   D. 


Evidence  of 
Cult. 

Shrine. 

Martyrology 

of  Wandelbert. 

Monastery. 

Miracles. 

Chapel. 

Shrine. 

Altar. 

Cloister. 

Miracles. 

Miracles. 


Church. 

Monastery. 

Church. 


*  Mon.  Germ.  Hist.  Scr.,  Vol.  XXV,  p.  31.  Since  this  is  my  earliest 
reference  I  quote  the  passage;  "Qui  cum  (St.  Amandus)  sentiret  suam 
dissolutionem,  cupiens  cum  Christo  vivere,  iussit  se  deduci  in  dictam 
ecclesiam  (coenobium  in  honore  beati  apostoli  Petri),  et  cum  viaticum  atque 
extremam  unctionem  de  manu  sacerdotum  accepisset,  ante  altare  beati 
Nicolai,  quem  intimo  cordis  dilegebat,  diu  in  oratione  procumbens,  sanctam 
animam  orando  inter  manus  angelorum  Deo  reddidit".  For  life  of  St. 
Amandus  (587-679  A.  D.)  see  Gallia  Christiania,  Vol.  Ill,  col.  255. 

^  Patrologia  Latina,  Vol.   CXXI,  col.  620. 

"Mon.  Germ.  Hist.  Scr.,  Vol.  XI,  pp.  396  and  401. 

''Ibid.,  Vol.  XXV,  pp.  69-70 ;  Anal.  Bolland.,  Vol.  XX   (1901),  p.  429. 

^Mon.  Germ.  Hist.  Scr.,  Vol.  XV,  p.  965. 

Ubid.,  Vol.  XII,  p.  43. 

"  Ibid.,  Vol.  VIII,  p.  404. 

"  Ibid.,  Vol.  XXI,  p.  312. 

^  Ibid.,  Vol.  XXV,  p.  284;  cf.  Recueil  des  Historiens  des  Croisades 
(1895),  Vol.  V,  pp.  293-294. 

^  Mon.  Germ.  Hist.  Scr.,  Vol.  XIV,  pp.  144-146. 

"  Ibid.,  Vol.  XXIII,  p.  86. 

^'Ibid.,  Vol.  XXIII,  p.  398. 

"  Ibid.,  Vol.  XII,  pp.  74-75. 


ST.    NICHOLAS   AND   HIS   MIRACLE   PLAYS 
Germany 


47 


Place  District 

Hildesheim". 
Southeast  Eichstadt". 

Bavaria     Emmeramus^°.    Ca.  50  m.  e.  of  Eich- 
stadt. 

Passau-"".     Ca.  100  m.  s.  e.  of  Eich- 
stadt. 

South       Lusanne^.     Ca.  100  m.  n.  e.  of  Ein- 

siedeln. 
Suabia      Peterhausen".     Ca.  40  m.  n.  e.  of        1092  A.   D. 
Einsiedeln. 
Zweifalt^.     Ca.  70  m.  n.  e.  of 

Einsiedeln.  1092  A.   D.         Church. 

Einsiedeln^.     Fragment  of  Miracle 
Play.  Ms.   of  twelfth 

century. 


Date. 

Evidence  of 

Cult. 

Ca.  1100 

Ms.  of  Miracle 

A.  D. 

Plays. 

Ca.  965 

Ms.  of 

A.  D. 

Life  by  Bishop 

Reginaldus. 

Ca.  1050 

Life   by   Othlo, 

A.  D. 

a  monk 

Ca.  1070 

A.  D. 

Monastery. 

089  A.  D. 

Chapel. 

092  A.   D. 

Church. 

France. 


District.  Place. 

Southeast.        Vienne.^°    Upper  Rhone. 

North-central.  Paris.^ 


Angers.* 


Date  Evidence    of    Cult 

858  A.   D.        Martyrology    of 

Ado. 
Before   103 1   Chapel    in    Palace 
A.  D.  founded  by 

Robert  the   Pious. 
1020  A.   D.  Monastery 


Northwest, 
and  Center. 

^''  Zts.  fur  deutsches  Alterthum,  Vol.  XXXV  (1891),  pp.  401-407. 

^^Mon.  Germ.  Hist.  Scr.,  Vol.  VII,  p.  257;  and  Anal.  BoUand.,  Vol.  II 
(1883),  pp.  143-151- 

^^Mon.  Germ.  Hist.  Scr.,  Vol.  XI,  p.  391. 

'°  Ibid.,  Vol.  IX,  p.  748 ;   and  Vol.  XXV,  p.  657. 

"  Ibid.,  Vol.  XXIV,  p.  799. 

"Ibid.,  Vol.  XVII,  p.  277. 

^  Ibid.,  Vol.  X,  p.  75. 

^ Anzciger  fiir  Kunde  der  deiitschen  Vorzeit,  Vol.  VI  (1859),  col. 
207-210. 

^  Patrologia  Latina,  Vol.  CXXIII,  col.  411.  This  should  be  connected  with 
the  martyrology  of  Wandelbert  of  Priim  (q.  v.  note  5  under  table  for  Germany) , 
for,  according  to  Kellner  {op.  cit.,  p.  284),  Ado  lived  at  Priim  from  829 
to  853. 

^^Mon.  Germ.  Hist.  Scr.,  Vol.  IX,  pp.  318  and  386-7. 

"^  Cat.  Codd.  Hagiog.  Lat.  Bibl.  Nat.,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  159-160;  Gallia 
Christ.,  Vol.  XIV,  pp.  558  and  567. 


48 


NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 


Place 


Normandy        Rouen.'* 


District 


Date.  Evidence  of 

Cult. 


and  Crux.^     Subject  monaster}' 

region  of  Charitas. 

valley.  Noron.^ 

of  Loire  Cultura."" 

Angers.'^ 

Angers.'* 

Bec."^ 


Fleury.=" 

Angers.^' 
Normandy.^ 

St.  Albans.*^ 


England 


Before    1054 

A.  D. 
Before    1087 

A.  D. 
1090  A.  D. 
1090  A.  D. 
1090  A.  D. 
1096  A.  D. 
1 100  A.  D. 

Twelfth 
Century 
Twelfth 
Century 

Twelfth 

Century 

Early 
Twelfth 
Century 


Musical  Office. 

Miracle. 

Legends. 

Miracles. 

Miracles. 

Church. 
Legends  and 

Miracles. 
Ms.  of  plays. 

Ms.  of  play 

by  Hilarius. 

Wace,  La  Vie  St. 

Nicholas. 

Altar." 


"  Collette,  op.  cit.,  p.  64. 

"^Cat.  Bihl.  Nat.,  op.  cit..  Vol.  II,  pp.  430-1;  ibid.,  Vol.  I,  pp.  510-1 ; 
Jacobus  de  Voragine,  Legenda  Aurea,  chap,  clxxxi.  Man.  Germ.,  Vol. 
XXXI,  p.  359;  Gallia  Christ.,  Vol.  XII,  cols.  403-404. 

^"Cat.  Bibl.  Nat.,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  158-159;  Gallia  Christ.,  Vol.  XIV, 
p.  473;   Hist.  Litt.  de  la  France,  Vol.  VIII,  pp.  444-446. 

^'  Orderic  Vitalis,  op.  cit.,  Bk.  VII,  chap.  xiii. 

''Ibid. 

^Mon.  Germ.,  Vol.  Ill,  p.  168;   Vol.  XXVI,  p.  461. 

'*Cat.  Bibl.  Nat.,  Vol.  II,  pp.  404-432;  cf.  Hist.  Litt.  de  la  France,  Vol. 
X,  p.  294. 

^^  Vide  supra,  chap.  11.  p.  8,  footnote  to  Fleury  plays. 

^  Vide  supra,  chap,  iii,  p.  42.  The  significant  fact  here  is  not  that  we 
know  where  Hilarius  composed  his  play,  but  that  we  have  established  his 
relations  with  a  center  of  the  St.  Nicholas  cult. 

*' Ul.  Chevalier,  Repertoire  des  sources  du  Moyen  Age  (Bio.-Bihl.) ,  Vol. 
II,  col.  4724;  cf.  Cath.  Encycl,  Vol.  XV,  p.  521. 

^^  Vide  infra,  chap,  vi,  p.  75. 

^"The  loci  sancti  thus  include  in  Germany,  the  districts  of  Bavaria  and 
Suabia  to  the  east  and  south,  Saxony  to  the  north,  and  Lorraine  to  the  west ; 
in  France  the  Upper  Rhone  to  the  south,  Paris  in  the  north,  and  Normandy 
and  the  Loire  valley  in  the  northwest  and  center ;  and  in  southern  England, 
St.  Albans.  In  all  cases  the  districts  are  indicated  according  to  mediaeval 
geographical  divisions. 


ST.    NICHOLAS   AND   IIIS    MIRACLE  PLAYS  49 

SIGNIFICANCE  OF  THE  EVIDENCE 

Some  observations  based  on  the  evidence  presented  in  this  table 
follow.  In  the  first  place,  it  is  noticeable  that  all  the  plays  are 
located  in  districts  where  the  cult  of  St.  Nicholas  has  previously 
been  established.  In  the  second  place,  Normandy  and  the  Loire 
valley  are  the  most  active  centers  of  the  cult.  In  this  connection, 
the  references  to  the  founding  of  the  monastery  at  Angers,  and  to 
the  later  miracles  there,  are  interesting  and  significant  because  they 
are  an  indication  of  the  attitude  of  the  people  toward  St.  Nicholas 
during  this  period.  One  version  of  the  story  of  the  founding  is 
told  as  a  preface  to  a  miracle  which  happened  at  the  monastery  in 
the  latter  part  of  the  eleventh  century.  In  this  record*"  the  narrator 
tells  us  that  while  Fulk  Nerra*^  was  journeying  toward  Jerusalem  to 
expiate  his  offences  against  God  in  wars,  the  ship  on  which  he  was 
sailing  was  overtaken  by  a  storm  near  Myra.  In  company  with 
others  on  board  he  prayed  for  succor;  but  the  storm  continued. 
Then  some  one  mentioned  that  they  were  near  the  city  in  which  St. 
Nicholas  was  buried,  and  that  he  had  rescued  from  the  perils  of  the 
sea  many  who  had  prayed  to  him.  Fulk  Nerra*-  prayed  to  the  saint, 
asking  his  intercession  before  God  for  their  safety,  and  vowing,  if 
the  prayer  was  answered,  to  dedicate  a  monastery  to  him  on  his 
return  home.  Soon  after  this  the  sea  became  calm,  and  the  ship 
reached  port  safely.  Later,  when  Nerra  returned  to  Angers,  he 
founded  the  monastery  as  he  had  vowed  to  do.  The  miracle  which 
follows  this  prefatory  narrative  is  of  a  paralytic  boy,  Brientius, 
who  prayed  and  kept  vigils  continually  before  the  shrine  of  St. 
Nicholas  with  psalms  and  hymns  until  one  night  he  was  healed  by 
the  saint,  who  called  to  him  from  heaven:  "Surge,  Briente,  Nicolaus 
ego  sum."  Another  illustration  of  his  work  as  a  benefactor  is  found 
in  the  case  of  the  church  of  St.  Nicholas  Ad  Muscas  at  Liege 
(1030).*'      Here   the   church    was    dedicated    to   him    because,    in 

*°Cat.  Bibl.  Nat.,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  159-160. 

"For  brief  account  of  Fulk  Nerra  see  Encyc.  Brit.  (1911),  Vol.  XI, 
p.  294- 

^The  same  narrative  tells  that  Geoflfrey,  the  son  of  Fulk  Nerra,  deposited 
in  the  monastery  relics  of  St.  Nicholas,  which  had  been  given  him  by  Henry 
III,  Emperor  of  Germany.  According  to  Gallia  Christiania,  Vol.  XIV,  p. 
667,  the  translation  occurred  in  1057. 

**  Anal.  Bolland.,  Vol.  XX,  p.  425;    Mon.  Germ.,  Vol.  XXV,  pp.  69-70. 


50  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

response  to  the  prayers  of  the  people,  he  had  caused  a  plague  of  flies 
to  cease. 

Further,  the  evidence  presented  in  the  table  above  indicates  that 
active  interest  in  the  development  of  the  cult  apparently  begins  in 
the  eleventh  century.  This  interest  became  intensified  during  the 
latter  part  of  the  century  by  the  above-mentioned  translation  of  his 
relics  to  Bari;  for  the  acquisition  of  them  meant  much  not  only  to 
Bari  and  all  Italy,**  but  also  to  France  and  Germany.  One  chronic- 
ler tells  us  that  shortly  after  the  translation,  a  soldier  who  had  man- 
aged to  get  a  portion  of  a  finger  bone  of  St.  Nicholas  as  a  relic, 
brought  it  to  Poussey  in  Lorraine  and  thus  attracted  there  people 
from  Burgundy,  France,  and  Germany  to  be  healed  or  to  worship.*'' 

According  to  Orderic  Vitalis,  Normandy  also  was  active  in  its 
efforts  to  secure  a  share  of  the  relics.  Thus,  Stephen,  the  cantor 
of  the  monastery  at  Angers,  by  express  permission  of  Natalis,  his 
abbot,  went  to  Bari,  lived  there  as  a  clerk,  gained  the  confidence 
of  the  sacristans  who  guarded  the  relics,  and  at  the  favorable  mo- 
ment, stole  an  arm  of  St.  Nicholas  set  in  silver,  and  kept  outside  the 
shrine  for  the  purpose  of  giving  the  benediction.*"  Notwithstand- 
ing that  a  hue  and  cry  was  proclaimed  over  all  Italy,  he  managed  to 
escape  with  it  as  far  as  Venosa.  Here  he  was  taken  sick  and  had 
to  detach  the  silver  from  the  arm  for  his  support.  This  led  to  the 
discovery  of  him  and  the  recapture  of  the  relic,  which  the  mon- 
astery at  Venosa  at  once  appropriated.*'^  A  more  successful  effort 
was  that  of  William  Pantoul,  a  knight  from  Noron,  Normandy. 
He  visited  Bari,  and  "by  God's  blessing  obtained  from  those  who 
had  translated  the  body  one  tooth,  and  two  fragments  of  the  marble 
urn"  in  which  his  relics  had  rested  at  Myra.  These  he  deposited 
in  the  church  at  Noron  in  1092,  where  they  "became  in  frequent 

**  Cf .  Orderic  Vitalis,  op.  cit.,  Bk.  VII,  chap,  xii :  "Protinus  diversae  mul- 
titudines  ab  universis  totius  Hesperiae  provinciis  convenerunt."  Also : 
"Deiiique  permittente  Deo,  plures  ecclesiae  de  Sanctis  reliquiis  praefati  prae- 
sulis  obtinuerunt.  Et  non  solum  Itali  et  Pelasgi,  sed  et  aliae  gentes,  Sanctis 
pignoribus  habitis,  Deo  Gratias  concinunt." 

''Mon.  Germ.,  Vol.  XXV,  p.  284. 

**The  employment  of  the  same  method  as  related  here  by  the  monk  who 
stole  the  relics  of  St.  Fides  (vide  supra,  chap,  iii,  p.  28)  suggests  that  this 
may  have  been  a  favorite  device  among  relic  seekers. 

■*"  Orderic  Vitalis,  op.  cit.,  Bk.  VII,  chap.  xiii. 


ST.    NICHOLAS   AND   HIS   MIRACLE  PLAYS  5I 

request  by  persons  suffering  from  fevers  and  other  maladies,  whose 
devout  prayers  aided  by  the  merits  of  the  good  bishop  Nicholas  ob- 
tained what  they  desired  in  the  recovery  of  their  health."  *^ 

Finally,  evidence  cited  in  our  tables  indicates  that  in  spirit  and 
form  the  honoring  of  St.  Nicholas  was  adapted  to  renaissance  in- 
novations of  which  a  logical  sequence  was  the  Miracle  Play.  I 
refer  to  one  of  a  number  of  legends  written  by  a  monk  of  Bee"**  in 
the  twelfth  centur}^  It  is  an  account  of  a  miracle  which  took  place 
in  connection  with  our  saint's  feast  day  services  at  Crux,  a  subject 
monastery  of  St.  Charitas,  on  the  upper  Loire.  Because  of  the  im- 
portance of  this  legend  to  us  for  the  purposes  of  our  study,  I  re- 
print entire  the  two  earliest  versions  which  I  have  found.  The  first 
one  which  I  give  is  from  a  manuscript^''  of  the  fourteenth  century  in 
the  Bibliotheque  Nationale,  but  is  regarded  by  the  Bollandists  as 
earlier  than  a  thirteenth  century  version  in  the  same  library. 
The  legend  follows: 

"Cluniacensi  coenobio  subest  quaedam  cella  quae  dicitur  Caritas, 
in  qua  primum  praepositus  constitutus  est  vir  nobilis  et  religiosus, 
nomine  Girardus,  qui  regimen  ejusdem  ecclesiae  tenuit  plus  quam 
triginta  annos :  sub  quo  nimium  crevit  ipsa  eadem  cella,  ita  ut  sub 
se  haberet  alias  cellas.  Inter  alia  vero  quae  possedit  fidelium  devo- 
tione,  data  est  quaedam  possessio,  quae  Crux  dicitur,  in  terra 
Brigiensi  a  quodam  illustro  viro.  Ad  quam  possessionem  veneran- 
dus  Girardus  statim  transmisit  quam  plurimos  monachos,  praeponens 
eis  religiosum  virum  quendam  et  ferventem  in  ordine  suo.     Ubi 

**  Ibid. 

*°Cf.  Hist.  Litt.  de  la  France,  Vol.  IX,  p.  294;  "Un  moine  du  Bee,  qu'on 
croit  avoir  porte  le  nom  de  Nicolas,  publia  vers  le  meme  temps  (Xlle. 
siecle)  une  relation  des  miracles  des  Nicolas,  Eveque  de  Mire,  qui  se 
multiplierent  en  plusiers  lieux,  apres  qu'on  eut  transfere  son  corps  en 
Occident." 

™  See  Cat.  Bibl.  Nat.,  op.  cit..  Vol.  Ill,  p.  404  (notice  of  manuscript)  : 
"Codex  Signatus  num.  5638.     Olim  Colbertinus  1172,  deinde  Regius  C  3863 

6.6.B.  Foliorum  139 columnis  binis,  exaratus  saec.  XIV."    For  text 

see  pp.  430-431.  Regarding  its  priority  to  the  thirteenth  century  version 
the  Bollandists  write  (p.  430  footnote)  :  "Quae  sequuntur  jam  aliis  verbis 
repperimus  in  Cod.  5285  (torn.  I,  pp.  510-51 1,  num-  26)  (for  Ms.  notice 
of  thirteenth  century  version,  vide  infra,  chap.  IV,  p.  54)-  Attamen  non 
ingratam  legentibus  non  facturos  censuimus,  si  et  banc  narrationem,  simpli- 
ciorem  et,  ut  videtur,  magis  primigeniam  hie  exhibuerimus." 


52  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

dum  essent,  supervenit  festivitas  beatissimi  ac  gloriossissimi  con- 
fessoris  Christi  Nicolai.  Turn  fratres  requisierunt  priorem  si  his- 
toriam  de  festivitate,  quae  est  propria,  decantarent.  Quibus  ille 
respondit :  Non,  quia  apud  Clunia&mn  non  cantatur.  Et  illi  e  contra 
Dominus  Girardiis,  prior,  facit  earn  cantare  in  domo  nostra  dc 
Caritate;  et  quod  in  domo  nostra  cantatur,  nos  dehemus  cantare. 
Siquidem  idem  Girardus  a  juventute  sua  illectus  in  amore  sancti, 
cum,  ad  prioratum  venisset,  fecit  festivitatem  ipsius  sancti  per  se  et 
per  suos  subjectos  magnifice  celebrari  et  propriam  historiam  decan- 
tari.  Ad  quorum  verba  respondit  prior  contumaciter  et  dixit : 
Nonne  vos  estis  monachi  Cluniacensis?  Illi  responderunt  cum  hu- 
militate  se  esse.  Et  ille :  Quod  in  vestra  ecclesia  cantatur  cantate,  et 
nil  amplius.^'^  Altare  die  iterum  interpellaverunt  eum  de  supra- 
dicta  re.  Qui  iratus  interdixit  eis  ne  ulterius  de  hac  re  eum  re- 
quirerent.  Sed  illi  perseverantes  in  petitione  sua,  tertia  vice  eum 
suppliciter  exoraverunt  ut  eis  concederet  decantare  historiam.  Ille 
nimium  iratus  contra  eos,  vehementer  verbis  contumeliosis  coepit 
eos  arguere,  eo  quod  ausi  fuerint  contra  suum  interdictum  de  hac 
re  eum  repetere  insuper  et  scopa  fecit  eos  vapulari  pro  hac  culpa. 
Nocte  vera  subsequente,  cum  se  sopori  dedisset,  ecce  beatus  Nic- 
olaus  ante  eum  cum  virga  stetit  sicque  eum  est  afifatus :  Tn  fecisti 
Monachos  tnos  verherari  causa  mei.  Videhis  quid  inde  tibi  evenict. 
Canta.  Tunc  ipse  sanctus  coepit  antiphonam,  quae  sic  incipit 
O  Christi  Pietas.  Ille  vero  cum  nollet  subsequendo  cantare,  coepit 
eum  vehementer  verberare,  more  consueto  magistri  puero  nolenti 
discere  litteras.  Quid  multa?  Tamdiu  quippe  verberando  et  dis- 
cendo  decantavit  ei  antiphonam  usquequo  ille  memoriter  eam 
decantaret  ex  integro.  At  monachi  qui  circum  jacebant,  cum  eum 
audissent  quasi  deplorando  cantare  supradictam  antiphonam,  sur- 
gentes  de  cubilibus  suis,  circumsteterunt  lectulo  illius  cum  lumin- 
arlbus.  Et  videntes  cum  senimium  defricantem,  simulque  decan- 
tatem  antiphonam,  vehementer  abstupuerunt.  quam  maxime  creden- 
tes  aliquid  secretum  inesse,  quod  non  videbant,  per  hoc  quod  oculis 
cemebant.  Nullus  tamen  ausus  est  eum  evigilare,  magnopere  ex- 
pectantes  finem  rei.  Cum  vero  bene  et  memoriter  ille  per  se  ipsum 
decantasset  totam  antiphonam,  evigilavit;  vidensque  fratres  astare 

"  Cf .  Du  Q^.ngt,Glossarium,etc.  (1883),  Vol.  II,  p.  103:  "Cantate,  Cantus 
Exclesiasticus  vel  potius  missa,  quae  cantatur." 


ST.    NICHOLAS   AND   HIS   MIRACLE   PLAYS  53 

coram  se  cum  luminaribus,  nihilque  volens  eis  tunc  dicere,  signi 
significatione  jussit  ut  ad  strata  sua  redirent,  et  ipse  quod  reliquum 
noctis  fuit  insomnem  duxit  cum  timore  et  dolore.  Mane  autem 
facto,  cum  hora  loquendi  venisset  et  omnes  in  unum  convenissent, 
dixit  illis :  Indulgeat  robis,  fratres,  Deus,  quod  me  fecistis  tarn 
acriter  verberari  hac  node.  Ite,  decantate  historiam  sicut  petistis. 
Nam  velim  nolim  concedere  me  oportet,  ne  iterum  verberer  sicut 
hac  node  vapulavi,  et  forsitan  multo  plus.  Expertus  enim  sum 
hac  nocte  quia  durum  est  contra  stimulum  calcifrare.  Tum  illi  cum 
immensis  precibus  rogare  coeperunt  ut  eis  narraret  quid  vidisset 
et  quid  passus  fuisset.  Ille  vero  precibus  eorum  acquiescens, 
narravit  eis  omnia  per  ordinem  sicut  supra  digestum  est.  Et 
probamentum  verbis  adiciens,  exspoliavit  se  coram  cunctis,  osten- 
dens  dorsum  suum  verberibus  dilaceratum.  Tunc  illi  videntes  haec, 
in  laudes  Dei  et  sui  piissimi  confessoris  Nicholai  diutius  cum 
lacrimis  demorati  sunt,  celebrantes  ejus  festivitatem  cum  omni 
gaudio  et  laetitia,  decantantes  historiam  sicut  petierant.  Festivitate 
transacta,  perrexit  prior  cum  aliquibus  fratribus  ad  priorem  suum 
Girardum,  et  veniens  ante  eum,  prostravit  se  ad  pedes  ejus.  Cui 
prior:  Quid  petisf  Ille  ait:  Peto  a  vestra  gratia  uf  a  prioratu  isto 
me  liberetis.  Et  prior  Girardus :  Qua  causa?  Et  ille :  Quia  fratres 
nostri  me  acriter  fecerunt  verberari  a  quodam.  Ad  haec  nimium 
commotus  prior  Girardus  dixit :  Et  qitis  ausus  fuit  tantum  inordina- 
tionem  facere?  Ad  quod  monachi  qui  venerunt  responderunt : 
Domne  prior,  noli  perturbari,  usque  dum  scias  quis  eum  verberaverit 
et  qua  causa.  Prior  Girardus,  videns  eos  nil  timoris  habere,  ut 
sapiens  vir,  intellegens  aliquod  secretum  esse,  jussit  priori  ut 
coram  omnibus  ediceret  quis  eum  verberavit  et  qua  causa.  Et  Ille : 
Sanctus,  inquit,  Nicholaus  verberavit  me.  Causa  quae  fuerit  dicam. 
Tunc  coepit  coram  omnibus  narrare  rem  gestam.  Prior  Girardus, 
admirans  novitatem  rei,  non  poterat  credere,  sed  existimabat  fabu- 
losam  esse  quod  audiebat.  Tum  prior  ille:  Ut  scias,  domne  prior, 
quia  verum  est  quod  audisti,  probationc  ostendam  tibi.  Tum  coram 
illo  et  omnibus  qui  adstabant  exspoliavit  se,  et  ostendit  dorsum  et 
scapulos  nimium  livientes  verbere.  Videns  hoc  prior  Girardus, 
prae  gaudio  coepit  flere,  et  in  laudem  omnipotentis  Dei  et  sui  pi- 
issimi confessoris  Nicholai  erumpens,  coepit  decantare  antiphonam 
0  Christi  Pietas.     Deinde  jussit  ut  per  omnes  cellas  sibi  subjectas 


54  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

supradictam  historiam  decantarent,  habens  deinceps  in  maximam 
venerationem  memoriam  ipsius  sancti,  quamvis  et  antea  plurimum 
habuisset." 

The  following  is  a  reprint  of  the  thirteenth  century  version  :^^ 
Inter  innumera  virtutem  insignia,  quibus  beatus  Nicolaus  inter 
spiritales  patres  velut  inter  astra  fulgida  caeli  lucifer  luminis 
singularis  effulsit,  nostris  quoque  temporibus  quantum  sibi  devote 
famulantibus  favere,  quantum  suo  famulatui  obtrectantibus  indig- 
nari  consuevit,  ostendere  dignatus  est.  Oualiter  autem  res  gesta 
contigerit,  paucis  explicare  curabo.  Cum  nova  sancti  Nicolai  his- 
toria  de  vita  et  miraculis  ejus,  scrip ta  quidem  per  hominem  sed 
homini  divinitus  inspirata,  jam  per  totam  paene  latinitatem  pro  ejus 
dulcedinis  immensitate  in  Christi  ecclesiis  longe  lateque  devotissime 
cantaretur  in  quadam  cella  quae  Crux  nominatur,  sanctae  Mariae 
de  Caritate  subjecta,  pro  pigritia  habitantium  necdum  fuerat  in- 
cohata.  Tandem  die  una  ejusdem  loci  seniores  ante  domnum 
Ytherium,  suum  videlicet  priorem,  pariter  convenerunt,  humiliter 
postulantes  ut  eis  beati  Nicolai  psallendi  responsoria  licentiam  daret. 
Ille  vero  eorum  petitionibus  nullatenus  adquiescens,  respondit 
omnino  fore  incongruum  in  tali  negotio  morem  pristinum  quibus- 
libet  novitatibus  immutandum.  At  illi  patris  duritiam  contuentes, 
hujuscemodi  coeperunt  urgere  sermonibus :  Cur,  pater,  audire  filios 
confemnisf  Cur,  cum,  sancti  Nicolai  historia,  spiritalis  mellis 
dulcedine  plena,  tota  jam  paene  orbe  Celebris  (sit),  non  cantetur 
a  nobisf  Cur  aliis  in  tanta  sollemnitate  epulantibus,  nos  a  tam 
spiritualis  convivii  refectione  pateris  esse  jejunos?  Cur  universis 
firme  ecclesiis  hac  nova  exultatione  jubilantibus,  haec  sola  modo 
muta  silebit?  Cum  his  et  similibus  valde  commotus  prior,  in  tali 
fertur  erupisse  blasphemia :  Recedite,  fratres:  numquam  enim  vobis 
licentia  a  me  concedetur  ut  relicto  pristino  usu  nova  saecularium 
cantica  clericorum,  immo  jocularia  quaedam,  in  ecclesia  cui  jubente 
Deo  deservio  ullatenus  admittantur.  Quibus  auditis,  nimio  pro  sua 
repulsa  rubore  perfusi,  reniti  non  valentes  ulterius  discipuli  quie- 
verunt,  ac  superveniente  festivitate  vespertinam  matutinalemque 
synaxim,  non  sine  quadam  tristitia,  veluti  consueverant  peregerunt. 

^^Catal.  Codd.,  op.  cit.,  I,  pp.  510-51 1.  Ms.  Notice  p.  502:  "Codex  Signatus 
num.  5284.  Olim  Folcardimantensis,  deinde  Colbertinus  2632  postea  Regius 
C  3683.4.4.  Foliorum   194 Columnis  binis  exaratus  saec  XIII." 


ST.    NICHOLAS   AND   HIS    MIRACLE  PLAYS  515 

Peractis  vero  vigiliis,  ad  propria  strata  sunt  quiescendi  gratia 
regressi.  Cumque  prior  se  in  lectulo  sicut  ceteri  collocasset,  ecce 
beatus  Nicolaus  ei  visibiliter  terribilis  valde  apparuit,  ipsumque  pro 
sua  obstinatione  atque  superbia  verbis  severissimis  increpavit,  atque 
per  capillos  a  lecto  abstrahens,  dormitorii  pavimento  collisit; 
incipiensque  antiphonam  0  pastor  aeterne,  per  singulas  notae  dif- 
ferentias  virgis  quam  in  manu  tenebat  gravissimos  ictus  supra 
dorsum  patientis  ingeminans,  per  ordinem  morose  canendo  ad  finem 
usque  perduxit.  Is  autem  tantis  flagris  et  tam  insolita  visione 
turbatus,  clamare  confusis  vocibus  coepit,  quisque  clamoribus  ante 
se  fratres  protinus  adunavit.  Quem  prostratum  solo  cernentes,  quid 
viderit  quidve  passus  fuerit  soUicite  requirebant.  At  ille,  utpote 
amens  effectus,  nullum  sciscitantibus  valuit  dare  responsum.  Sub- 
latus  autem  fratrum  manibus,  in  cellam  infirmantium  deportatur, 
multisque  diebus  correptus  languore  gravissimo  custoditur.  Ad 
postremum,  divina  miseratione  et  beati  Nicolai  interventione  sal- 
vatus,  congregatis  f ratribus  ait :  Ecce,  filii  carissimi,  quoniam  vobis 
oboedire  contempsi,  duras  pro  cordis  mei  duritia  poenia  exsolvi. 
Amodo  nan  solum  quod  petabitis  gratanter  annuo,  verum  quod 
quoad  vixero  ad  canendam  tanti  patris  historiam  promptissimus 
atque  paratissimus  ero?'^ 

From  these  two  versions,  the  important  features  of  the  legend 
may  be  summarized  briefly  as  follows :  Some  Cluniac  monks  at 
Crux,  a  subject  monastery  of  St.  Charitas^*  in  the  Loire  valley,  on 

'"^  Another  version  of  this  legend  is  included  by  Jacobus  de  Voragine  in  his 
Legenda  Aurea  as  a  part  of  a  chronicle  under  the  Sancto  Pelagio  Papa;  cf. 
Cap.  CLXXXI,  pp.  841-842,  ed.  Th.  Graesse.  Certain  verbal  agrements  in- 
dicate a  close  relation  to  our  thirteenth  century  version.  It  adds  no  new 
details.  The  version  of  Jacobus  is  copied  by  a  mediaeval  chronicler :  cf .  Mon. 
Germ.,  etc.,  Vol.  XXXI,  p.  427  (Albert!  Milioli  notarii  Regini,  Liber  de 
temporibus  et  aetatibus  et  Cronica  imperatorum). 

"  In  this  connection,  the  follow^ing  historical  facts  regarding  St.  Charitas 
are  significant.  Although  in  origin  it  dates  back  to  700,  it  was  destroyed  in 
754.  Then  in  1056  it  was  restored  under  the  Cluniacs.  Its  first  prior,  Gerard, 
was  appointed  by  Hugo,  a  member  of  that  order.  It  came  to  have  as  trib- 
utary monasteries  Reuil,  in  the  diocese  of  Meaux,  St.  Fides  of  Longavilla 
in  Rouen,  St.  Julien  of  Lesaune  in  Troyes,  and  St.  Andrew  of  Northamp- 
ton, Wenlock,  and  Bermondsey,  England.  Cf.  Gallia  Christiana,  Vol.  XII, 
pp.  403-404.  For  additional  tributary  monasteries  see  index  to  G.  F.  Duckett's 
Charters  and  Records  of  the  Abbey  of  Cluni  (1888). 


56  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

St.  Nicholas'  feast  day  ask  permission  of  their  prior  to  sing  a 
new  and  popular  history  of  that  saint's  life,  but  are  denied  the 
privilege  by  the  prior  because  it  is  not  the  ecclesiastical  chant,  and 
because  it  is  the  facetious  composition  of  secular  clerks.  As  a 
punishment  to  this  prior,  St.  Nicholas  appears  to  him  on  the  night 
follpwing  his  refusal  and  compels  him  to  learn  an  antiphon  used 
in  his  feast  day  services,  in  one  version  0  Christi  Pietas,  and  in 
the  other  0  Pastor  Aeterne.  When  Gerard,  the  prior  of  St. 
Charitas,  hears  of  this  miracle,  he  orders  the  history  sung  in  all 
the  subject  monasteries. 

In  this  legend,  I  believe,  is  the  key  to  the  solution  of  our  prob- 
lem, i.  e.,  the  origin  of  the  Miracle  Play. 

With  this  in  view,  it  has  at  least  a  four-fold  significance  for  us : 
first,  as  to  the  period  during  which  this  innovation  is  related  as 
having  become  established ;  second,  as  to  its  general  character ; 
third,  as  to  the  objection  made  to  it  by  the  prior;  and  fourth,  as  to 
the  antiphon  employed  in  the  earlier  version.  The  period  during 
which  this  innovation  was  becoming  established  as  a  feature  of 
St.  Nicholas'  feast  day  celebration,  according  to  our  legend,  is 
pretty  definitely  fixed  by  the  reference  to  Gerard,  prior  of  St. 
Charitas.  Since  the  monastery  was  reestablished  by  the  Cluniacs 
in  1056,  and  he  was  its  first  prior,  "who  had  charge  of  it  for  more 
than  thirty  years,"  the  miracle  is  related  as  having  taken  place 
some  time  between  1056  and  approximately  thirty  years  following, 
or  the  period  during  which  the  cult  of  St.  Nicholas  was  becoming 
especially  popular  in  Europe.^^  With  regard  to  the  general  character 
of  the  innovation,  we  are  here  concerned  with  a  history  of  the  life 
and  miracles  of  St.  Nicholas  which  were  not  to  be  read,  but  sung 
for  his  feast  day  celebration.  Thus  we  have  here  to  do  with  musical 
services,  an  essential   feature  of   our  Miracle  Plays.°^     Then  the 

^'' Cf.  preceding  footnote.  Relative  to  Gerard  ci.  Gallia  Christiaina,nt  supra 
"Hujus  (Girardi)  regimen  annos  amplius  trigina  tenuit  ex  lib.  de  miraculis 
S.  Nicolai  episcopi  adeoque  ejus  obitu  recte  collocatur  an.  1087  in  Chronica 
Vizeliacensi." 

^  Vide  supra  text  of  first  version:  "Fratres  requisierunt  priorem  si  his- 
toriam   de   festivitate,   quae   est   propria,   decantarent;"  and   of   the   second 

version:  "nova   sancti   Nicolai  historia  de  vita  et  miraculis  ejus 

jam    per    totam    paene    latinitatem longe    lateque    devotissime 

cantaretur." 


ST.    NICHOLAS   AND   HIS   MIRACLE   PLAYS  57 

objection  of  the  prior  to  the  request  of  the  monks  is  that  un- 
ecclesiastical  additions,  new  and  facetious  songs  of  secular  clerks, 
are  being  made  to  the  regular  services.^' 

As  we  shall  see  a  little  later,  the  unecclesiastical  addition  is  a 
distinctive  feature  of  our  plays.  And  finally,  the  antiphons  men- 
tioned suggest  a  logical  relation  between  the  legend  and  the  plays, 
in  that  O  Christi  Pietas^^  of  the  earlier  legend  is  the  choral  ending 
of  the  Hildesheim  scholars'  play  and  the  Fleury  dowry  play. 

Now  as  we  have  already  learned,  this  was  a  period  of  unofficial 
embellishments  in  musical  offices  for  saints'  feast  day  services.^^ 
We  have  observed  specifically  that  at  Rouen,  during  the  second 
quarter  of  the  eleventh  century  an  office  of  this  sort  was  composed 
for  St.  Nicholas  by  Isembert,  abbot  of  Mont  St.  Catherine.*'*'  And 
it  was  during  the  period  to  which  our  legend  refers  that  at  St. 
Evrault's  monastery,  "secundum  usum  clericorum",  a  "history"  of 
the  patron  saint  was  chanted  in  his  honor,  and  hymns  were  com- 
posed to  him.*'^ 

"  Vide  supra  first  version,  where  the  prior  chides  the  monks  for  singing 

the  history:  "Nonne  vos  estis  monachi  Cluniacenses? Quod  in 

vestra  ecclesia  cantatur  cantate,  et  nil  amplius."  Cf.  also  in  the  second 
version  his  reply  to  their  repeated  requests:  "Recedite,  fratres.  Numquam 
enim  vobis  licentia  a  me  concedetur  ut  relicto  pristino  usu  nova  saecularium 
cantica  clericorum,  immo  jocularia  quaedam  in  ecclesia  cui  jubente  Deo  de- 
servio  ullatenus  admittantur." 

•'''A  problem  suggested  by  this  antiphon,  and  by  the  choral  endings  of  all 
our  plays  is:  What  do  they  indicate  as  to  the  time  of  presentation  of  the 
plays?  At  present  I  lack  sufficient  evidence  to  come  to  any  conclusion,  but 
add  the  following  for  what  it  may  be  worth.  The  antiphon,  O  Christi  Pietas, 
was  employed  in  Bayeux  in  the  thirteenth  century  for  St.  Nicholas'  feast 
day  services,  after  the  first  vespers,  during  matins,  and  mass,  and  at  the 
second  vespers  (cf.  Ul.  Chevalier,  Ordinaire  et  Coutumier  de  L'£glise 
Cathedrale  de  Bayeux  Xllle  Siccle  [Paris,  1902],  pp.  191-192).  The  Te  Deuni 
at  the  close  of  the  Fleury  scholars'  and  the  Hildesheim  Dowry  plays,  of 
course,  in  the  regular  liturgy  occurs  at  the  close  of  matins.  And  the  well- 
known  directions  added  by  Hilarius  to  his  Lazarus  and  Daniel  plays  (cf. 
Du  Meril,  op.  cit.,  pp.  232  and  254)  to  the  effect  that  Te  Denm  should  follow 
if  they  were  given  at  matins,  and  the  Magnificat,  if  at  vespers,  indicate  that 
plays  were  presented  at  both  those  hours. 

''''Vide  supra,  chap,  m,  p.  37- 

''  Ibid. 

"Cf.  Orderic  Vitalis,  op.  cit.,  Bk.  Ill,  chap.  vii.  Relative  to  the  objection 
of  the  prior  in  our  legend  of  St.  Charitas  the  "secundum  usum  clericorum" 


58  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

As  far  as  hymns''-  are  concerned,  there  is  sufficient  evidence 
that  the  patrons  of  St.  Nicholas  also  were  not  remiss  in  according 
the  same  honor  to  their  saint. 

ORIGIN  OF  THE  MIRACLE  PLAY 

That  the  Miracle  Plays  are  to  be  regarded  as  a  logical  sequence 
of  these  renaissance  innovations  is  apparent  when  one  looks  to  their 
form  and  spirit.  Both  are  adequately  characterized  for  our  purpose 
by  students  of  the  plays.  M.  Sepet  calls  Getron,  one  of  the  Fleury 
St.  Nicholas  group,"'  a  lyric  dialogue  with  versification  fashioned 
according  to  the  principles  of  rhythmic  Latin  employed  by  Adam 
of  St.  Victor  (d.  1142),  the  greatest  Latin  hymn  writer  of  the 
mediaeval  renaissance.^*     H.  Suchier  notices  this  same  lyric  quality 

of  the  chronicler  is  important.  It  is  significant  that  the  prior  at  St.  Evrault 
during  this  renaissance  in  music  had  received  his  training  at  Rouen  under 
Isembert  mentioned  above. 

For  evidence  that  a  "history"  of  St.  Alban,  at  St.  Albans,  England,  was 
set  to  music  early  in  the  eleventh  century,  vide  infra,  chap.  VI,  p.  75. 

*^For  hymns  of  the  eleventh  century  to  St.  Nicholas  cf.  F.  J.  Mone,  op. 
cit.  Vol.  Ill,  pp.  450,  452,  455;  Analecta  Hymnica,  Vol.  I,  p.  194,  Vol.  II, 
p.  202,  Vol.  VII,  p.  260,  Vol.  XlVa,  p.  18,  Vol.  LI,  p.  209;  E.  Du  Meril, 
Poesies  populaires  latines  anterieures  an  Xlle  siecle  (Paris,  1843),  pp.  170-173. 
It  is  interesting  here  further  to  note  a  legend  in  a  manuscript  of  the 
thirteenth  century  (Catal.  Codd.  Hagiog.  Bibl.  Reg.  Brux.,  Vol.  I,  pp.  320- 
322).  It  relates  that  at  Bari,  shortly  after  the  translation  of  the  relics  ot 
St.  Nicholas,  a  widow  who  worshipped  that  saint  devotedly  remarked  on  his 
feast  day  that  it  was  a  reproach  to  St.  Nicholas  that  there  was  no  response 
or  prose  especially  for  him.  A  scholar  who  loved  her  heard  this  and  wrote 
the  prose  beginning  "Congaudentes",  and  the  response  "Confessor  Dei 
Nicolaus." 

°^  E.  Du  Meril,  Origines  Latines  etc.,  p.  276  ff. 

^*  Origines  Catholiques  du  Theatre  Moderne  (1901),  pp.  71-72:  "Notre 
piece,  en  effet,  est  un  dialogue  lyrique,  echange  tantot  entre  deux  person- 
nages,  tantot  entre  un  choeur  et  un  acteur.  La  versification,  appropriee  a 
sa  nature  musicale,  consiste  en  couplets  symmetriques  de  quatre  vers  de  dix 

syllabes Ces  vers   n'ont   rien   de   sublime,   mais  habilement  me- 

sures  selon  les  principes  de  la  rhythmique  latine  dont  Adam  de  Saint  Victor 
faisait  vers  la  meme  epoque  un  si  bel  emploi  dans  ses  proses,  ils  ne  manquent 
ni  d'aisance,  ni  d'harmonie." 


ST.    NICHOLAS   AND   HIS   MIRACLE  PLAYS  59 

in  the  play  by  Hilarius.*''  Then  in  referring  to  the  Hildesheim 
plays,  Dr.  Weydig  in  three  different  places  emphasizes  their  hymn- 
like character,  and  even  goes  so  far  as  to  give  them  a  hybrid  place 
between  hymn  and  drama.®"  And  Petit  de  Julleville  calls  attention 
especially  to  the  pagan  spirit  of  the  Fleury  plays.  As  he  puts  it, 
they  offer  nothing  of  the  liturgy,  but  indicate  the  influence  and 
limitation  of  pagan  antiquity.®^ 

Finally,  E.  de  Coussemaker  makes  a  classification  which  puts 
the  Fleury  St.  Nicholas  plays  in  the  same  renaissance  group  as 
indicated  by  Sepet,  Suchier,  Weydig,  and  Petit  de  Julleville. 
Briefly,  he  says :  the  liturgical  plays  are  of  two  sorts."^  The  former, 
closely  connected  with  the  religious  ceremonies,  borrow  the  litur- 
gical text,  and  merely  paraphrase  and  put  it  into  dialogue  for  the 
purposes  of  action.     The  latter   (in  which  fall  our  St.   Nicholas 

*^  Geschichte  der  franzosischen  Litteratiir,  p.  273 :     "Und uns 

von    Hilarius drei    lateinische    Schauspiele    erhalten    (Daniel, 

Lazarus,  Nikolaus)  von  denen  die  beiden  letzteren  lyrische  Gesange,  man 
mochte  sagen  Arien,  einschliessen." 

°*'  Op.  cit.,  p.  14  with  reference  to  plays  represented  on  the  feast  day  of 
St.  Nicholas :  "Zwei  solcher  noch  mehr  den  Charakter  von  Hymnen  tragenden 
Spiele  stammen  aus  der  Klosterschule  von  Hildesheim."  Cf.  p.  70  concerning 
the  scholars'  play:  "Das  Hildesheimer  Spiel  auch  in  Strophenbau  seine 
Zwitterstellung  zv\rischen  Hymnen  und  Drama  nicht  verleugnet;"  and  cf. 
further  p.  75:  "Bei  alledem  blieb  doch  aber  der  Charakter  der  Hymne  vor- 
herrschend  durch  die  gleichmassige  Stropheneinteilung." 

" LesMysteres  (1880),  Vol.  I,  p.  7.  As  an  example  of  the  pagan  influence 
he  quotes  the  fallowing  from  the  speech  of  the  second  clerk  in  the  Scholars' 
play  (Du  Meril,  Origines,  p.  263)  : 

"Jam  sol  equos  tenet  in  litore 
Quos  ad  praesens  merget  sub  aequore." 

'^  Dr antes  Liturgiques  du  Moyen  Age,  pp.  ix-x :  "Ceux-ci  (les  drames 
liturgiques)  etaient  de  deux  sortes:  les  uns  se  liaient  etroitement  aux  cere- 
monies religieuses,  et  faisaient  en  quelque  sorte  corps  avec  elles,  en  em- 
pruntant  le  texte  liturgique  qu'on  paraphrasait  legerement,  et  qu'on  mettait 
en  dialogue  pour  le  besoin  de  Taction.  Les  autres,  tout  en  ayant  le  meme 
caractere  religieux,  n'avaient  pas  une  liaison  aussi  intime  avec  le  culte.  Ce 
furent  deja  de  veritables  creations  dramatiques.  lis  ont  pour  sujet  le  texte 
sacre;  mais  le  developpement  qu'on  y  donna  en  fit  des  compositions  speciales 
dont  I'etendue  ne  permit  plus  de  conserver  leur  place  dans  les  offices.  On  les 
representa  tantot  aux  processions,  tantot  pendant  ou  apres  les  ceremonies, 
soit  au  choeur,  soit  au  jube." 


6o  -    NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

plays)  do  not  have  a  close  connection  with  the  religious  ceremonies, 
but  are  veritable  dramatic  creations,  special  compositions  which 
do  not  keep  their  place  in  the  religious  offices.  The  music  of  the 
first  type  is  the  liturgical  chant,  of  the  second,  is  special,  even  for 
the  parts  of  the  text  borrowed  from  the  liturgy.^^  The  distinction 
just  made  is  especially  instructive  for  us  when  taken  in  connection 
with  the  objection  .of  the  prior  in  the  first  version  of  our  legend: 
"Quod  in  vestra  ecclesia  cantatur  cantate  (the  ecclesiastical  chant), 
et  nil  amplius."  In  view  of  the  fact  that  Coussemaker  is  one  of  the 
few  who  have  made  a  careful  study  of  the  music  in  the  mediaeval 
drama  his  remarks  should  have  great  weight.  And  here  they  are 
especially  valuable. 

An  analysis  of  the  passages  here  referred  to  reveals  what  is 
clear  to  one  after  a  careful  study  of  the  plays,  viz.,  that  their 
verse,  in  form  and  lyric  quality,  suggests  the  mediaeval  Latin  hymn, 
and  that  in  spirit  they  are  characterized  by  unecclesiastical  ele- 
ments/" Therefore  in  view  of  the  facts  set  forth  above,  I  hold 
that  the  St.  Nicholas  Miracle  Plays  originated  in  connection  with 
musical  services,  during  the  latter  part  of  the  eleventh  century  ^^ 
as  an  unecclesiastical  feature  of  his  feast  day  celebration,  and  that 
they  are  indebted  to  the  mediaeval  Latin  hymn  for  their  form. 
The  creative  impulse  characteristic  of  the  mediaeval  renaissance 
found  expression  in  some  individual  who  applied  the  dramatic 
method  to  a  legend  of  this  popular  saint  whose  history  had  already 
been  set  to  music.  The  result  was  our  first  Miracle  Play.  Its 
practical  significance  consists  in  the  fact  that  it  had  its  inspiration 

'*  Ibid.,  p.  XV :  "La  musique  des  premiers  etait  le  chant  liturgique ;  on 
ajoutait  seulement  une  melcxiie  speciale  a  la  partie  du  dialogue  qui  n'appart- 
enait  pas  au  texte  liturgique. 

"Les  autres avaient  generalement  une  musique  speciale,  meme 

pour  les  parties  du  texte  empruntees  a  la  liturgie." 

™0f  course  there  is  a  common  agreement  that  they  were  intended  for 
his  feast  day  celebration. 

'*  The  distinctive  feature  in  the  verse  of  both  the  Hildesheim  and  the 
Fleury  plays  which  fixes  the  terminus  a  quo  for  their  composition  is  the 
employment  of  the  two-syllable  end  rhyme.  According  to  Wilh.  Meyer 
(Sitctingsherichte  der  Miinchner  Akademie,  philos.-hist.  Klasse  [1882],  pp. 
136-137)  this  form  does  not  go  back  of  the  latter  eleventh  century,  and  is 
perfected  during  the  first  half  of  the  twelfth. 


ST.    NICHOLAS   AND   HIS   MIRACLE  PLAYS  6l 

in  his  regular  feast  day  services.  In  its  origin  it  shows  a  certain 
parallelism  to  that  of  the  liturgical  drama.  Thus  in  the  tropes, 
which  in  point  of  time  preceded  the  Easter  dramatic  offices,  we  have 
to  do  with  unofficial  additions  to  liturgical  texts;  and  in  hymns  to 
saints,  which  precede  the  Miracle  Play,  we  have  to  do  with  un- 
official additions  to  the  religious  services  of  the  saint's  feast  day. 
Finally,  when  this  theory  of  origins  which  I  propose  is  taken  in 
connection  with  the  entry  of  lay  clerks  such  as  Geoffrey  and  Hilarius 
into  the  monasteries,  with  the  growth  of  the  unecclesiastical  spirit 
in  the  monastic  schools,  with  the  wonderful  development  in  music, 
and  hymn  writing,  and  with  tije  awakened  interest  in  the  cult  of 
St.  Nicholas  during  this  period,  the  essential  and  causal  relation 
of  the  St.  Nicholas  Miracle  Play  to  the  features  of  mediaeval  life 
discussed  in  the  last  chapter  becomes  evident. 

Relative  to  the  probable  place  of  origin,  a  question  of  import- 
ance is  that  of  the  priority  of  the  composition  of  the  preserved  texts. 
Since  the  authorship  of  one,  the  Hilarius  robbers'  play,  fixes  its 
time  approximately  within  the  second  quarter  of  the  twelfth  century, 
it  need  not  be  considered  here.  This  leaves  the  Hildesheim  and 
Fleury  groups,  and  the  Einsiedeln  fragment.  Of  the  two  former, 
Dr.  Weydig  ^-  has  shown  adequately  by  a  comparison  of  the  Hildes- 
heim plays  (dowry  and  scholars')  with  those  treating  the  same 
legends  in  the  Fleury  manuscript,  that  those  of  the  Hildesheim 
manuscript  (eleventh  century)  are  the  earlier  and  simpler  compo- 
sitions. Since  the  other  two  plays  of  the  Fleury  manuscript  rep- 
resent the  same  stage  of  development  as  the  dowry  and  scholars' 
plays,  in  the  absence  of  evidence  to  the  contrary,  they  are  also  to  be 
classed  as  later  than  those  composing  the  Hildesheim  group.  And 
a  comparison  of  the  Hildesheim  and  Fleury  versions  of  the  scholars' 
legend  with  the  fragment  in  the  Einsiedeln  manuscript  makes  clear 
that  the  author  of  the  Einsiedeln  play  evidently  employed  both  the 
Hildesheim  and  Fleury  compositions  as  models.  As  the  following 
table  shows,  on  the  one  hand,  there  is  in  Einsiedeln  and  Fleury  an 
agreement  of  significant  words,  not  found  in  Hildesheim.^'^ 

"  Weydig,  op.  cit.,  pp.  55  ff.  and  66  ff. 

"For  texts  cf.  Du  Meril,  Origines,  etc.,  pp.  264-266;  and  Anzeiger  fiir 
Kunde  der  deutschen  Vorzeit,   (1859),  Neue  Folge  vi,  cols.  207-210. 


62 


NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 


Fleury.  Einsiedeln. 

'*  I.  Nicolaus  1.  Nicolaus  peregrinus  ad  hospitem: 

Peregrinus,  fessus  itinera  ultra  modo  suscipe  me  peregrinum. 

non  possum  tendere.  2.  Hospes  aduxorem:  Estne 

3.  Vetula.  repellendus  peregrinus  an  excipien- 
Hunc  personam  commendat  nimium         dus? 

(cf.  E.8)  et  est  dignum  ut  des  (cf.      3.  Uxor:    Pande 

E.7)  hospitium.  fores      isti,      peregrinum      suscipe 

4.  Senex :  Christi. 

Peregrine,  accede  proprius ;   4.  Hospes  ad  Nicolaum  :  Qui  requiem 

quidquam    voles  quaeris  intres. 

tentabo   quaerere.  5.  Nicolaus :    O    dapif er,   vesci   desi- 

5    Nicolaus:  dero  came  recenti. 

Carnem    vellem    recentem      6.  Uxor:    Inclyte  noster  Here,   nova 

edere.  fercula   quacrit   (cf.   F.  4)    habere. 

7.  Senex :  Qui venit  peregrinus. 

Daho     tibi     carnem     quam     habeo,      7.  Uxor:     Quam  petis  ut  demus  nos 
namque  came  recenti  careo.  came  recenti  caremus. 

8.  Nicolaus :  8.  Nicolaus  ad  ambos :  

carnem    habes  Ut  quaesita  (cf.  F.  4)  recens  caro 

recentem  nimium, cautius  inveniatur  Nunc 

9.     Senex  et  mulier  simul:  est  inventa  caro    recens 

non  est  incondonabile.  Pie    dolor !      O    mentem 

nimium  feritatis  habentem. 
Quod  scelus   (cf.  F.   9)    egesti.    Ad 

Uxorem :     tarn 

magni   sceleris    Horrifico 

sceleri. 
Then,  the  opening  words  of  the  prayer  of  St.  Nicholas  in  Fleury; 
"Pie  Deus,  cujus  sunt  omnia, 
Coelum,  tellus,  aer  et  maria," 
are  summed  up  in  Einsiedeln  in  his  answer  to  mulier,  "Qui  regit 
omnia  quod  est" ;  and  the  choral  ending  ^^  Te  Deum  Laudamus  of 
Fleury  is  suggested  in  Einsiedeln  by  the  closing  words  of  St.  Nich- 
olas, "Lausque  Deo  detur".     Finally,  the  part  played  by  the  wife 
in  Einsiedeln,  entirely  lacking  in  Hildesheim,  is  a  dramatic  develop- 
ment of  the  possibilities  suggested  in  Fleury  by  her  two-line  re- 
sponse to  her  husband  regarding  the  reception  of  St,  Nicholas,  (see 
F.  3  above)  and  by  her  joint  plea  with  her  husband  to  St.  Nicholas 
for  mercy : 

"  The  numbers  represent  the  order  of  speeches  in  the  plays. 
™  As  the  reader  v^rill  recall  from  previous  notes,  the  choral  ending  in  H. 
is  O  Christi  Pietas. 


ST.    NICHOLAS   AND   HIS   MIRACLE  PLAYS  63 

"Miseri  nostri  te  petimus; 

nam  te  sanctum  Dei  cognovimus ; 

nostrum  scelus  abominabile, 

non  est  tamen  incondonabile." 
But,  on  the  other  hand,  Einsiedehi  shows  some  significant  similar- 
ities to  Hildesheim.     For  instance,  in  the  Hildesheim  play,  the  wife 
says,  when  her  husband  suggests  murdering  the  sleeping  boys,  that 
such  a  crime  would  ofifend  God  too  much : 

"Tantum  nefas,  coniunx,  si  fieret, 

Creatorem  nimis  offenderet ;" 

but  when  her  husband  chides  her  with  having  vain  fears, 
"Frustra  times,  bene  celabitur. 
Nemo  sciet  (si)  pertractabitur," 

she  consents  to  it:  "Fiat  quod  vis,  ego  consentiam."  In  the  Einsie- 
deln  fragment,  Nicholas  rebukes  the  husband  for  having  contemned 
the  judgment  of  God, 

"Quod  scelus  egesti  qui  tres  mucrone  petisti, 
Hospes  eos  leto  dans,  sumo  iudice  spreto !" 

and  the  wife  for  having  consented  to  the  murder,  as  was  not  fitting 

in  a  woman : 

"(ad  uxorem)  :  Nee  bene  nupsisti  quae  conscia  facti  fuisti 
Tam  magni  sceleris,  quia  consensisse  videris 
Horrifico  sceleri,  nee  convenit  hoc  mulieri." 

In  the  Fleury  version  there  is  no  suggestion  of  the  wife's  fear  of 
their  committing  an  offence  against  God.  On  the  contrary,  she 
incites  her  husband  to  the  deed : 

"Paupertatis  onus  sustulimus, 
mi  marite,  quamdiu  viximus ; 


Evagines  ergo  jam  gladium; 
Namque  potes,  morte  jacentium, 
esse  dives  quamdiu  vixeris." 

A  notable  similarity  in  detail  is  that  uxor  is  employed  exclusively 
for  wife  in  Hildesheim  and  Einsiedeln,  while  in  Fleur>'  vetula  or 
mulier  is  the  rule,  with  uxor  only  once.     As  to  total  effect,  the 


64  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

author  of  Einsiedeln  has  developed  the  dramatic  possibilities  of 
the  situation  as  suggested  in  Hildesheim  and  Fleury.  Some  of  the 
features  which  show  this  are:  the  specific  stage  directions,"^* 
entirely  lacking  in  Hildesheim  and  almost  so  in  Fleury,  the  more  de- 
tailed action,  and  the  dramatic  quality  of  the  dialogue.'^^  As  a  result  of 
our  analysis  we  may  conclude  that  the  Hildesheim  manuscript  con- 
tains our  earliest  plays,  which  occupy,  as  Dr.  Weydig  correctly  puts 
it,  a  "Zwitterstellung  zwischen  Hymnen  und  Drama".  Because  of 
this  and  because  of  their  priority  in  time  over  any  other  plays  of 
the  type,  we  may  regard  them  as  the  first  Miracle  Plays. 

Shall  we,  then,  consider  our  St.  Nicholas  Miracle  Play  a  German 
product?  I  believe  not.  For  several  reasons,  I  think  we  may  logic- 
ally regard  it  as  a  French  creation.  In  the  first  place,  its  form,  the 
ten-syllable  strophe,  is  evidence  in  favor  of  this.  According  to 
Wilh.  Meyer,  whose  conclusions  are  based  on  years  of  study,  the 
ten-syllable  verse  arose  in  France  and  essentially  remained  there.'^^ 

In  the  second  place,  renaissance  activity  found  expression  largely 
in  France,  especially  in  Normandy  and  the  Loire  valley,  and  cen- 
tered in  its  schools.  Recall  again  such  famous  teachers  and 
scholars  as  Isembert  of  Rouen,  Fulbert  of  Chartres,  Odo  of  Orleans, 
Lanfranc  and  Anselm  of  Bee,  Geoffrey  of  Le  Mans,  later  of  St. 
Albans,  and  Hilarius  and  Abelard.  The  conclusions  of  Leon 
Maitre'^*  add  further  support  to  this  argument.  He  closes  his 
study  of  the  episcopal  and  monastic  schools  from  the  ninth  to  the 

'''*  Thus  "Uxor  ad  Nicolaum  revertens",  "Intrant 
cubiculum  ubi  juvenes  occisi  jacent." 

™  The  leonine  hexameter  employed  gives  more  freedom  in  this  respect 
than  does  the  ten-syllable  quatrain. 

"See  Fragmenta  Burana,  p.  Ii8:  "Der  Zehnsilber  ist  nicht  nur 
in  Frankreich  geschaffen,  sondern  auch  im  Wesentlichen  dort  geblieben ;  in 
der  lyrischen  und  dramatischen  Dichtkunst  Frankreichs  finden  wir  ihn 
ausserst  oft  verwendet.  Z.  B.  das  S.  56-59  erwahnte  alte  Sponsus-Drama 
besteht  nur  aus  Zehnsilberstrophen,  und  von  den  Nikolausdramen,  welche 
Du  Meril  (Origines)  durckt,  enthalt  das  1.  (S.  254)  nach  11  Funfzehnsilbem 
dann  S.  256-262  nur  Zehnsilber.  Aber  fiir  Deutschland  war  der  Zehnsilber 
ein  ungewohntes  Vermass." 

"  Leon  Maitre,  op.  cit.,  p.  299.  Wattenbach's  comment  is  in  harmony  with 
this  (Sitsungsberichte  der  Berliner  Akademie  (1891),  p.  97).  "Im  elften 
Jahrhundert  aber  gewinnen  die  Schulen  einen  solchen  Aufschwung,  dass  in 
Deutschland  bald  kein  Kleriker  mehr  als  ausreichend  gebildet  betrachtet  wurde, 


ST.    NICHOLAS   AND    IIIS    MIRACLE   PLAYS  65 

thirteenth  centuries  with  the  statement  that  one  cannot  help  recog- 
nizing that  the  principal  schools  of  the  Occident  pertained  to  North- 
ern Gaul.  And  Anz  '^  in  his  masterly  study  of  the  Latin  Magi  Play 
maintains  that,  although  in  the  tenth  century  Germany,  through  St. 
Gall,  gave  France  sequences  and  tropes,  France  in  turn  in  the 
eleventh  century  became  the  standard  for  Germany.  Then,  in 
French  schools,  as  we  have  already  learned,  unecclesiastical  in- 
fluences were  strong.  A  further  reason  for  regarding  the  St. 
Nicholas  Miracle  Play  as  of  French  origin  is  the  fact  that  the  St. 
Nicholas  cult  was  most  active  in  France  during  the  second  half  of 
the  eleventh  century.  Finally,  the  French  relations  of  Hildesheim 
during  this  century  lend  additional  support  to  the  theory  of  French 
origin.  When  Bernward,  its  thirteenth  bishop,  in  1006  journeyed  to 
Tours  and  brought  back  to  Hildesheim  relics  of  St.  Martin,  he  made 
one  of  the  French  centers  of  renaissance  influence  a  mecca  for  Hil- 
desheim monks  and  clerks.®"  And  the  fact  that  Hezilo,  bishop  from 
1054  to  1079.  completed  his  education  in  French  schools  ®^  suggests 
that  French  influence  was  a  dominant  factor  at  Hildesheim  during 
his  bishopric. ®- 

wenn  er  nicht  in  Frankreich  seine  Studien  vollendet  hatte."  Cf.  also  Meyer 
(op.  cit.,  pp.  179-180),  especially  lines  from  a  student's  song  of  that  period 
(p.  180)  : 

"Hospitia  in  Gallia  nunc  me  vocant  studia. 
Vadam  ergo ;  flens  a  tergo  socios  relinquo. 
Plangite   discipuli,   lugubris   discidii  tempore   propinquo. 
Vale,  dulcis  patria,  suavis  Suevorum  Suevia ! 
Salve,   dilecta  Francia,  philosophorum  curia." 
'*  H.   Anz,  Die  lateinischen  Magierspiele    (Leipzig,   1905),  p.    127:     "Im 
X.  Jahrhundert  war  Deutschland  das  gebende,  und  von  St.  Gallen  ging  die 
neue  kirchliche  Dichtung  nach  Frankreich,  Sequenzen  und  Tropen  fanden  eine 
zweite  Heimstatte  in  Limoges  und  von  da  aus  in  anderen  Orten.   Dann  begann 
die  Kluniazenserbewegung  und  machte  Frankreichs  Kirche  zur  massgebenden, 
in  der  Zisterzienserreform  setzte  sich  der  gewaltige  Umschlag  fort.     Es  kam 
eine  Zeit,  da  sogar  St.  Gallen  in  Norpert  aus  Stablo  sich  einen  Abt  franz- 
osischer  Schule  aufdrangen  lassen  musste." 
^Vide  supra,  chap,  in,  p.  29. 
^^Vide  siipra,  chap,  iii,  p.  40. 

'■  Another  fact  of  significance  here  is  that  a  direct  route  from  Hildesheim 
to  Tours  would  take  one  through  Fleury,  and  also  through  Belgium  and 
Lorraine,  the  next  most  active  districts  for  the  St.  Nicholas  cult. 


66  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

These  plays,  then,  are  an  expression  of  the  mediaeval  renais- 
sance and  a  new  feature  of  the  feast  day  celebration  of  a  popular 
saint.  Their  origin  in  connection  with  schools  is  what  we  should 
logically  expect,  for  the  spirit  of  innovation  was  dominant  in  them. 
And  whether  the  place  of  their  original  composition  was  Hildesheim, 
Fleury,  Angers,  or  one  of  the  numerous  other  schools  where  the 
St.  Nicholas  cult  was  established  does  not  materially  affect  our 
theory.  They  are  essentially  the  product  of  French  innovations. 
Further,  according  to  the  evidence,  these  plays  honor  St.  Nicholas, 
not  as  the  patron  of  scholars,  but  of  the  monastery  or  locality  where 
his  cult  was  established. 

A  word  on  the  subject  matter  and  the  technique  of  these  plays 
is  in  order  here.  Though  they  include  different  dramatic  incidents, 
they  all  emphasize  one  feature.  The  situation  and  the  setting  may 
be  changed,  but  St.  Nicholas  always  has  the  same  role :  he  is  the 
good  bishop,  the  doer  of  good  deeds  for  his  patrons,  whether  they 
are  wandering  scholars,*^  dutiful  daughters,  distressed  parents,  un- 
converted pagans  or  Jews.  This  was  the  great  feature  of  his  life, 
the  one  that  occurred  primarily  to  the  mediaeval  writer  of  legend- 
aries and  hymns.  This  was  the  feature  emphasized,  also,  in  the 
lections  ®*  in  connection  with  the  services  of  his  feast  day. 

The  technique  is  simple  and  clearly  distinguishable ;  it  is  the  ap- 
plication of  the  dramatic  method  to  popular,  legendary  material  of 
the  saint's  life. 

If,  by  way  of  summary,  we  reduce  our  problem  to  its  simplest 
terms,  we  have  the  following:  saints'  feast  day  services  centuries 
old,  renaissance  influences  in  the  monasteries  where  a  particular 
saint's  cult  was  established,  the  history  of  his  life  set  to  music 
and  hymns  composed  in  his  honor,  the  application  of  the  dramatic 
method  to  these  unecclesiastical  features,  and  the  instituting  of  a 
new  literary   fashion. 

^  On  the  basis  of  the  evidence  that  the  scholars'  legend  seems  to  have 
appeared  first  in  the  eleventh  century  and  in  Western  Europe,  I  suggest 
that  it  may  have  originated  in  connection  with  the  migration  of  students  from 
school  to  school. 

**The  lections  of  the  Sarum  Breviary  (Cambridge,  1886),  Fasciculus  III, 
cols.  23-36,  though  representing  the  usage  of  several  centuries  later  than 
our  period,  may  be  regarded  as  typical. 


CHAPTER  V. 
The  Resurrection  of  Lazarus,  and  the  Conversion  of  St.  Paul 

The  purpose  of  this  chapter  is  to  suggest  a  new  classification  for 
the  two  Latin  plays,  The  Resurrection  of  Lazarus^  and  The  Con- 
version of  St.  Paul.-  It  is  unnecessary  to  summarize  them  here, 
for  they  are  merely  dramatizations  of  the  two  incidents  indicated  by 
their  title.  Two  important  facts  in  connection  with  what  follows 
are  that  a  version  of  each  of  these  plays  is  preserved  in  our  Fleury 
manuscript,  which  contains  four  of  the  St.  Nicholas  plays,  and  that 
the  second  version  of  the  Lazarus  story  was  written  by  Hilarius, 
the  author  of  one  of  the  remaining  four  St.  Nicholas  plays. 

Now  I  believe  the  evidence  tends  to  show,  not  that  these  plays 
are  logically  connected  with  the  Christmas  and  Easter  dramatic  of- 
fices,^ but  that  they  were  composed  in  honor  of  Lazarus  and  Paul 
as  patron  saints,  and  hence  are  Miracle  Plays.  In  passing  judgment 
on  this  theory  the  reader  should  keep  clearly  in  mind  one  feature  of 
the  mediaeval  point  of  view  already  discussed :  Lazarus  and  Paul 
as  mediaeval  saints  fall  in  the  same  general  class  as  Martial,  Martin, 
Denis,  Catherine,  and  Nicholas.*  Furthermore,  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury legend  of  St.  Martial,  which  made  him  one  of  the  seventy-two 
disciples  of  Christ,  indicates  a  decidedly  uncritical  attitude  with 
relation  to  the  modern  distinction  between  legend  and  Gospel. 

THE  resurrection    OF   LAZARUS 

The  mediaeval  legend  of  St.  Lazarus"  runs  as  follows:  "St. 
Lazarus  of  Bethany,  reputed  first  Bishop  of  Marseilles,  d.  in  the. 

'  In  two  versions.  One  in  Fleury  Ms.  (op.  cit.)  :  cf .  Coussemaker,  op.  cit., 
pp.  221-234,  Du  Meril,  Origines,  pp.  213-225,  Wright,  op.  cit.,  pp.  45-53;  the 
other  by  Hilarius :  cf .  Hilarii  Versus  et  Ludi,  pp.  24-34,  Du  Meril,  pp.  227-232. 

Mn  Fleury  Ms.:  cf.  Coussemaker,  pp.  210-220,  Du  Meril,  pp.  237-241, 
Wright,  pp.  42-44- 

'Cf.  E.  K.  Chambers,  Med.  Stage,  Vol.  II,  p.  59:  "The  Suscitatio  Lazari 
would  be  appropriate  enough  as  an  addition  to  the  Quern  Quaeritis  and  the 
Peregrini  in  Easter  week.  The  story  is  told  indeed  in  the  fourth  week  of 
Lent ;  but  that  does  not  seem  a  very  likely  date  for  the  play." 

H  Vide  Supra,  chap.  Ill,  p.  34. 

^  Since  my  original  plan  included  a  study  of  only  St.  Nicholas  and  St. 
Catherine,  I  have  had  to  Umit  myself  through  lack  of  time  to  reputable 
secondary  authorities  for  the  matter  concerning  the  cult  of  Lazarus  and  the 
feast  day  of  St.  Paul. 


68  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

second  half  of  the  first  century.  According  to  tradition,  or  rather 
a  series  of  traditions  combined  at  different  epochs,  the  members 
of  the  family  at  Bethany,  the  friends  of  Christ,  together  with  some 
holy  women  and  others  of  His  disciples,  were  put  out  to  sea  by  the 
Jews  hostile  to  Christianity  in  a  vessel  without  sails,  oars,  or  helm, 
and  after  a  miraculous  voyage  landed  in  Provence  at  a  place  called 
today  the  Saintes-Maries.  It  is  related  that  they  separated  there  to 
go  and  preach  the  gospel  in  dilTerent  parts  of  the  southeast  of  Gaul. 
Lazarus  of  whom  alone  we  treat  here,  went  to  Marseilles,  and,  hav- 
ing converted  a  number  of  its  inhabitants  to  Christianity,  became 
their  first  pastor During  the persecu- 
tion of  Domitian  he  was  cast  into  prison  and  beheaded  in  a  spot 
which  is  believed  to  be  identical  with  a  cave  beneath  the  prison  of 
Saint  Lazare.    His  body  was  later  translated  to  Autun,  and  buried  in 

the  cathedral  of  that  town Before  the  middle  of  the 

eleventh  century  there  does  not  seem  to  be  the  slightest  trace  of  the 
tradition  according  to  which  the  Palestinian  Saints  came  to  Provence. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century,  perhaps  through  a  confusion 
of  names,  it  was  believed  at  Autun  that  the  tomb  of  St.  Lazurus 
was  to  be  found  in  the  cathedral  dedicated  to  St.  Nazarius.  A 
search  was  made  and  the  remains  were  discovered,  which  were 
solemnly  translated  and  were  considered  to  be  those  of  him  whom 
Christ  raised  from  the  dead.'"^ 

According  to  the  evidence,  then,  the  cult  of  St.  Lazarus  was 
not  established  in  \\"estern  Europe  before  the  latter  part  of  the 
eleventh  century.'  At  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century  it  was 
centered  at  Autun  in  the  Loire  valley,  about  a  hundred  miles  south- 
east of  Fleury,  by  the  formal  translation  of  his  relics.  As  we  have 
already  seen  in  the  case  of  other  saints,  no  circumstances  could  have 

•Cf.  Leon  Clugriet,  Catlt.  Encyc,  Vol.  IX,  pp.  97-98;  and  Kellner,  op.  cit., 
pp.  220-224. 

'  The  statement  of  Mgr.  Duchesne,  who  has  made  a  special  study  of  this 
subject,  is  definite  and  positive:  "Lazare,  Madeleine  et  leur  groupe  ne  furent 
longtemps  connus  dans  tout  I'Occident  que  par  I'fivangile  et  les  martyr- 
ologues ;  ils  n'ont  ni  legende,  ni  sanctuaire  special ;  cette  situation  se  maintint 
pendant  le  Xe  siecle  tout  entier;  nul  lieu  dans  tout  le  monde  latin  ou 
Madeleine,  Lazare  et  ses  soeurs  fussent  honores  avant  le  milieu  du  Xle 
siecle."  (Quoted  from  J.  Bedier,  Les  Legendes  Epiques,  Vol.  11,  p.  69; 
source:  Annales  du  Midi,  t.  v.,  1893.) 


RESURRECTION   OF  LAZARUS,  AND  CONVERSION  OF  ST.   PAUL        69 

been  more  favorable  than  this  for  the  spread  of  his  cult  in  that 
district.  Further,  when  this  evidence  is  taken  in  connection  with 
the  facts  that  Fleury  was  an  important  monastic  school  in  the  Loire 
valley,^  and  that  as  a  Cluniac  center''  it  had  a  subject  monastery 
in  the  diocese  of  Autun,  the  existence  at  Fleury  of  a  play  concerning 
St.  Lazarus,  composed  probably  during  the  first  half  of  the  twelfth 
century  "  has  at  least  a  logical  explanation.  Whether  it  was  written 
at  Fleury,  Autun,  or  some  other  place  is  not  a  matter  of  immediate 
importance  for  us.     The  following  are  the  significant  facts : 

1.  A  play  having  Lazarus  for  its  subject  and  evidently  written 
soon  after  his  cult  became  established  at  Autun  is  found  within  a 
hundred  miles  of  this  center. 

2.  It  dramatizes  the  dominant  feature  of  his  life,  his  distinctive 
legend. 

3.  It  was  written,  apparently,  shortly  after  the  appearance  of 
the  early  St.  Nicholas  plays,  and  in  a  district  where  the  cult  of  that 
saint  would  have  tended  to  popularize  this  dramatic  feature.^^ 

4.  Finally,  it  is  the  same  type  as  the  play  of  St.  Nicholas.  In 
technique,  it  is  the  application  of  the  dramatic  method  to  a  legend 
from  the  life  of  this  saint.  In  form,  its  verse  is  the  ten-syllable 
strophe  of  the  Hildesheim  and  Fleury  St.  Nicholas  plays.  In  spirit, 
Coussemaker  classifies  it  according  to  its  music  and  composition  in 
the  same  group  with  the  St.  Nicholas  plays. ^-  And  Petit  de  Julle- 
ville  writes,  not  only  concerning  this  version,  but  also  concerning 
that  by  Hilarius :  "Ni  I'un  ni  I'autre  ne  sont  purement  liturgiques 

ce  sont  des  oeuvres  originales  ou  la  libre  inspiration 

des  auteurs  s'est  donne  carriere  et  a  innove  sans  scruple."  ^^ 

'See  Gallia  Christiania,  Vol.  VIII,  cols.  1538-1540.  According  to  this 
authority,  it  had  at  one  time  more  than  5000  students  in  attendance. 

°Cf.  E.  Sackur,  Die  Chmiacenser  (1892),  Vol.  I.  pp.  201-202:  "Die  Abtei 
Fleury  hatte  mehrere  Filialkloster,  die  ihr  seit  eher  vollstandig  untergeben 
waren,  Pressey  in  der  Diocese  Autun,  Sacerge  in  Department  de  L'Indre,  etc." 

^^  This  dating  is  based  on  the  fact  that  the  prevailing  verse  form  is  the 
same  as  that  in  the  Hildesheim  and  Fleury  St.  Nicholas  plays. 

"He  was  still  the  patron  saint  of  this  locality  several  centuries  later: 
L.  Petit  de  Julleville,  Les  Mysteres,  Vol.  I,  p.  405.  records  the  performance 
of  a  play  at  Autun  in  1516  on  the  Life  of  St.  Lazarus,  "the  patron  saint 
of  the  Aedui." 

"  Vide  supra,  chap,  iv,  pp.  46. 

"^  Op.  cit,  Vol.  II,  p.  54- 


70  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

Relative  to  the  version  by  Hilarius,  it  is  significant  to  recall  that 
the  author  was  a  wandering  scholar  who  we  know  spent  some  time 
at  Angers  farther  down  the  Loire  valley,  not  far  from  Fleury.  Its 
principal  difference  from  the  Fleury  version  as  to  form  consists 
in  a  lyric  freedom  such  as  the  same  quality  in  his  St.  Nicholas,  his 
Daniel,  and  his  non-dramatic  poems  would  lead  one  to  expect.  A 
comparative  study  of  these  two  versions  is  not  necessary  for  our 
present  purposes.  They  are  clearly  the  same  type;  that  is  the  im- 
portant thing  for  us. 

The  possible  objection  that  Lazarus  is  not  the  hero  of  this  play 
is  not  to  the  point  here.  The  literary  fashion  initiated  by  the  author 
of  the  St.  Nicholas  plays — and  I  cannot  emphasize  this  too  strongly 
• — was  to  honor  the  patron  saint,  not  necessarily  by  making  him  the 
hero  of  the  drama  on  his  feast  day,  but  by  presenting  the  dominant 
feature  of  his  life.  Christ  appears  in  this  play,  I  believe,  not  be- 
cause it  has  any  essential  relation  to  the  Christmas  or  Easter  groups, 
but  because  he  happens  to  be  a  principal  actor  in  the  distinctive 
legend  of  Lazarus'  life.^* 

THE  CONVERSION  OF  ST.  PAUL 

In  the  case  of  St.  Paul,  though  a  feast  day  in  his  honor  was  estab- 
lished early  in  Western  Europe,  it  was  in  memory  of  the  translation 
of  his  relics,  reputed  to  have  taken  place  in  Rome,  and  not  of  his 
conversion.  According  to  Kellner  the  feast  of.  his  conversion 
was  not  in  the  Calendar  of  Charlemagne  belonging  to  781,  but  was 
becoming  established  by  the  tenth  century.^^  And  after  its  establish- 
ment it  was  kept  as  a  holiday  of  obligation  in  many  dioceses  of 
France  and  Germany.  At  all  events,  if,  as  Kellner  says,  the  idea 
of  the  conversion  soon  replaced  that  of  the  translation,  we  may 
regard  this  feast  day  as  established  two  centuries  later.  This  is 
the  important  consideration  for  us. 

The  reasons  why  I  believe  the  play,  The  Conversion  of  St.  Paul, 
should  be  classified  with  the  St.  Nicholas  group  follow : 

"The  same  argument  holds  in  the  case  of  The  Conversion  of  St.  Paul. 

"Kellner,  op.  cit.,  p.  207:  "Der  jiingste  Codex  aber  unter  den  alten,  der 
Metzer,  jetzt  in  Bern  befindlich,  der  dem  10.  Jahrhundert  angehort,  hat  fiir 
den  25.  Januar  eine  tJbertragung  und  die  Bekehrung  der  hi.  Paulus  ver- 
zeichnet.  Das  Andenken  an  die  Bekehrung  verdrangte  aber  bald  die  Erin- 
nerung  an  die  Translation  und  gab  jenem  Tage  einen  anderen  Festcharakter, 
unter  welchem  es  Verbreitung  und  bald  allegemeine  Annahme  fand." 


RESURRECTION  OF  LAZARUS,  AND  CONVERSION  OF  ST.  PAUL        y\ 

1.  Its  technique  is  the  same.  It  is  the  dramatization  of  the 
feature,  the  distinctive  legend  from  the  life  of  St.  Paul,  in  connec- 
tion with  his  feast  day  celebration. 

2.  Its  form  is  the  ten-syllable  quatrain,  the  prevailing  form  in 
the  St.  Nicholas,  Hildesheim  and  Fleury  plays. 

3.  It  appears  in  a  district  where  the  St.  Nicholas  plays  have 
instituted  a  fashion  for  a  saint's  feast  day  celebration. 

4.  Its  spirit  is  unecclesiastical.  Coussemaker  groups  it  with 
the  plays  already  mentioned.  In  fact,  as  Petit  de  Julleville  puts 
it :  "Tout  element  purement  liturgique  a  disparu."^°  In  my  opinion 
the  real  purpose  of  the  play  was  pointed  out  several  years  ago  by 

Sepet:  "II  faut  done  considerer  la  piece comme  composee 

et  representee  pour  la  divertissement  des  ecoliers  de  Saint-Benoit- 
sur-Loire  a  I'occasion  de  la  fete  d'un  de  leurs  saints  patrons."^^ 

Thus,  as  I  suggested  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter,  these  plays 
are  the  same  type  as  those  of  St.  Nicholas ;  and  the  evidence  points 
to  the  conclusion  that  they  are  an  expression  of  the  fashion  insti- 
tuted by  the  plays  in  honor  of  that  saint. 

"  Op.  cit.,  p.  79. 

"  Origines  Catholiques  du  Theatre  Moderne  (1901),  p.  77. 


CHAPTER  VI. 
St.  Catherine  and  Her  Play 

In  this  chapter  I  shall  show  that  the  evidence  concerning  the 
relation  of  St.  Catherine's  cult  to  her  play  at  St.  Albans  harmonizes 
with  that  presented  in  the  case  of  St.  Nicholas,  and  shall  give  my 
reason  for  considering  the  trial  and  martyrdom  the  most  probable 
subjects  of  her  play.  It  is  sufficient  for  the  present  to  state  that 
according  to  legend  Catherine  was  an  Oriental  saint  noted  for  her 
learning,  that  she  suffered  martyrdom  at  Alexandria  in  the  fourth 
century,  and  that  her  body  was  carried  by  angels  to  Mt.  Sinai  where 
healing  oil  continually  flowed  from  her  tomb.  At  this  place  a 
monastery  was  founded  in  her  honor. 

There  is  no  evidence  of  her  cult  in  Western  Europe,  either 
through  the  translation  of  her  relics,  the  assignment  of  a  day  to 
her  in  calendars  and  martyrologies,  or  through  any  sort  of  honor- 
ing whatever  before  the  second  quarter  of  the  eleventh  century.^ 
Furthermore,  during  the  entire  eleventh  century  her  cult  centered  at 
one  place  so  far  as  France  and  Germany  are  concerned:-  and  that 
place  was  Rouen.  In  a  Translatio  et  Miracula  written  shortly  after 
1050  we  have  a  contemporary  account  of  the  establishing  of  her 
cult  at  the  abbey  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  Rouen,  and  of  the  miracles 
performed  there  through  her  power.^  According  to  this  record, 
Symeon,  a  monk  from  the  monastery  of  St.  Catherine  on  Mt.  Sinai, 
in    1025    came    into   Western   Europe   with    some   companions    to 

^  The  general  sources  employed  in  this  study  are  the  same  as  those  in- 
dicated at  the  opening  of  the  chapter  on  St.  Nicholas. 

^  She  was  known  in  Italy  through  two  hymns  composed  in  her  honor  by 
Alphanus,  bishop  of  Salerno  (1058-1085).  For  text  see  Patrologia  Latina, 
Vol.  CXLVII,  cols.  124  ff. ;  and  Anal.  Hymn.,  Vol.  L  (1903),  pp.  333-334- 

^See  Anal.  Bolland.,  Vol.  XXII  (1903),  pp.  423-438:  Sanctae  Catherinae 
Virginis  et  Martyris  Translatio  et  Miracula  Rotomagensis  saec.  xi ;  accord- 
ing to  Ms.  (R)  in  Codice  Rotomagensi  U.22,  saec.  xiii,  fol.  109V-115V,  with 
supplementary  notes  from  Ms.  (A)  in  Codice  bibliothecae  publicae  sancti 
Audomari  27,  saec.  xi,  fol.  8-1 1.  For  evidence  to  prove  that  the  account  was 
written  about  1050,  summarized  by  A.  Poncelet,  see  op.  cit.,  pp.  423-437.  For 
another  contemporary  account  see  Mon.  Germ.  Hist.  Scr.,  Vol.  VIII,  pp.  398- 
399:  Hugonis  Chronicon;  cf.  also  Gallia  Christiania,  Vol.  XI,  col.  124  ff.,  and 
Hist.  Litt  de  la  France,  Vol.  XXII,  pp.  122-124. 


ST.    CATHERINE  AND  HER  PLAY 


73 


collect  offerings  for  his  monastery.*  When  he  came  to  Rouen,  Rich- 
ard, Duke  of  Normandy,  received  him  kindly  and  gave  him  large 
offerings.  These  Symeon  sent  back  by  his  companions,  but  he  re- 
mained for  two  years  with  Goscelinus,  a  noble  of  Rouen.  At  this 
time  Goscelinus  decided  to  found  a  monastery  to  the  Holy  Trinity. 
This  was  consecrated  in  1030,  and  Isembert  was  made  its  first 
abbot.^  In  this  monastery  Symeon  deposited  relics  of  St.  Catherine 
which  he  had  brought  with  him  from  her  tomb  at  Mt.  Sinai.®  From 
these  relics,  three  minute  bones,  flowed  the  miraculous  healing  oil, 
just  as  it  did  from  the  tomb  of  the  Saint  at  Mt.  Sinai.  In  short,  the 
shrine  became  a  niecca  for  the  afflicted  in  the  district  around  Rouen. 
The  eighteen  miracles  recorded  by  the  narrator  are  a  conventional 
list,  ranging  from  a  story  of  how  Isembert,  the  first  abbot,  was  cured 
of  a  toothache  by  the  use  of  the  oil,  to  an  account  of  a  raving 

^  Such  assistance  to  Oriental  monasteries  from  the  people  of  Western 
Europe  was  evidently  a  common  practice.  Cf.  L.  Brehier,  L'Sglise  et  I'Orient 
au  Moyen  Age.  Les  Croisades  (1907),  pp.  30-31:  "L'usage  s'introduit 
d'ailleurs  au  Xe  siecle  de  donner  en  toute  propriete  aux  monasteres  de  Terre 
Sainte  des  biens-fonds  situes  en  Occident  dont  les  moines  de  Jerusalem 
viennent  recueillir  les  revenus.  Telle  est  la  dotation  faite  en  993  par  Hugue 
marquis  de  Toscane  et  Juliette  sa  femme  au  Saint-Sepulchre :   les  revenus  de 

biens     situes    dans    les    comtes    d'Orvieto devaient    sevir    a 

I'entretien  des  moines  de  Sancte-Marie  la  Latine  de  Jerusalem  et  des  pelerins 
auxquels  ils  donnaient  I'hospitalite.  L'eglise  fondee  par  Charlemagne  ex- 
istait  done  encore  a  cette  epoque.  Des  donations  analogues  furent  faites  par 
Richard  II  due  du  Normandie  au  Saint-Sepulchre  et  meme  a  des  monas- 
teres du  Sinai.  Chaque  annee  des  moines  venaient  a  Rouen  et  retournaient 
en  Palestine  charges  de  presents.  Au  debut  Xle  siecle,  l'eglise  du  Saint- 
Sepulchre  possedait  plusieurs  terres  en  Italic  et  dans  le  midi  de  la  France." 
(Raoul  Glaber,  I,  5,  21;    Vita  S.  Simeonis,  M.  G.  ss.,  VIII,  210). 

^  Cf.  Orderic  Vitalis,  op.  cit.,  Bk.  Ill,  chap.  i. 

"  See  Anal.  Bolland.,  xxii,  p.  427  for  the  story  of  his  securing  the  relics. 
Thus:  Certain  monks  guarded  St.  Catherine's  tomb  and  received  in  a  vase 
the  miraculous  healing  oil  that  flowed  from  it.  Of  Symeon  the  narrator 
writes :  "Sed  ut  narrationis  nostrae  ordinem  prosequamur  inter  eosdem 
fratres,  quorum  supra  meminimus,  erat  quidam  summae  sanctitatis  ac  pru- 
dentiae,  nomine  Symeon,  qui  divino  spiritu  plenus  tamquam  pater  ab  omni- 
bus calebatur.  Hie  denique  cum  suae  septimanae  ordine  supradicto  funge- 
retur  officio,  divina  favente  gratia,  tali  insignitus  est  dono.  Nam  cum  illo 
salutaria  olei  liquore  tria  admodum  minuta  de  sarcofago  distillantia  meruit 
ossa  excipere:  quae  diligenter  collecta  in  vitrea  cum  ipso  oleo  recondita 
secum  conservavit  multis  postmodum  profutura." 


74  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

maniac  restored  to  his  senses  before  her  shrine.  The  name  of  the 
monastery  was  soon  changed  from  the  Mount  of  Holy  Trinity  to 
the  Mount  St.  Catherine.  Rouen,  then,  was  the  center  of  the  St. 
Catherine  cult  in  Western  Europe  during  the  eleventh  century. 
There  she  was  a  patron  saint,  first  of  her  monastery,  and  afterwards 
of  the  district  around  it. 

Now  there  are  several  significant  facts  to  connect  with  the  evi- 
dence here  summarized.  In  the  first  place,  the  monastery  of  St. 
Catherine  conducted  a  famous  school  under  the  direction  of  Isem- 
bert,  who  knew  how  by  his  writings  to  popularize  a  saint.^  A  second 
fact  of  importance  is  that  Isembert  composed,  as  the  reader  will 
recall,  a  musical  office  to  St.  Nicholas;  and  Ainard,  one  of  his  pu- 
pils, did  a  like  honor  for  St.  Catherine.^  The  significant  fact  in  this 
for  us  is  that  the  monastery  of  St.  Catherine  was  a  center  of  renais- 
sance innovations  for  saints'  services,  and  was  in  touch  with  the 
cult  of  St.  Nicholas.  Again,  Isembert  was  a  monk  of  the  Cluniac 
order.^  This  undoubtedly  helped  to  keep  Rouen  in  touch  with  the 
activities  of  the  Loire  valley,  where  the  Cluniacs  centered,  and 
where  renaissance  influences  were  strong. 

But  since  St.  Albans,  England,  is  the  immediate  locality  for  the 
miraculum  of  St.  Catherine,  it  is  important  for  us  to  know  its  rela- 
tion to  Normandy  and  Rouen,  and  its  attitude  toward  renaissance 
innovations  of  the  eleventh  century.  According  to  Matthew  Paris, 
the  rule  of  Richard,  the  Norman  abbot  who  called  Geoffrey  to 
St.  Albans  to  teach,  marked  the  beginning  of  Norman  supremacy 

''  Leon  Maitre,  op.  cit.,  p.  121 :  "Aux  portes  de  Rouen,  sous  la  direction 
de  Tallemand  Isambert,  prosperait  I'ecole  de  Sainte  Catherine  du  Mont  .  . 
.  .  .  Isambert,  dit  une  vieille  chronique,  ne  le  cedait  a  personne  de  son 
temps  pour  la  connaisance  des  arts  liberaux,  et  nul  ne  savait  mieux  que  lui 
populariser  un  saint  par  ses  ecrits." 

^  L'Abbe  A.  Collette,  op.  cit.,  p.  64.  Possibly  CoUette  has  in  mind  the  one 
which  Vitalis  mentions  (Ecd.  Hist.,  Bk.  IV,  chap,  xviii)  :  "Hie  (Ainardus) 
fuit  Teutonicus,  geminaque  scientia  pleniter  imbutus,  versificandi  et  modu- 
landi  cantusque  suaves  edendi  peritissimus.  Hoc  evidenter  probari  potest, 
in  historiis  Kiliani  Guirciburgensis  episcopi,  et  Katherinae  virginis,  aliisque 
plurimis  cantibus  quos  eleganter  idem  edidit  in  laudem  Creatoris."  Accord- 
ing to  Vitalis,  Ainardus  died  in  1078. 

» Cf.  E.  Sackur,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  II,  p.  50. 


ST.  CATHERINE  AND  HER  PLAY  75 

there. ^"  And  the  affiHation  of  this  abbey  with  Rouen  is  shown  by  the 
fact  that  Richard  in  11 15  called  Geofifrey,  archbishop  of  that 
diocese,  to  St.  Albans  to  dedicate  a  new  church  there. ^^  Relative  to 
renaissance  innovations,  there  is  evidence  that  even  early  in  the 
eleventh  century  this  abbey  adapted  its  feast  day  services  to  the 
same  type  as  prevailed  on  the  continent.  Alfric,  abbot  1006  ff., 
while  chanter  of  the  monastery,  composed  and  set  to  music  a  historia 
in  honor  of  its  patron  saint.'-  A  further  fact  of  importance  in  con- 
nection with  our  study  is  that  by  the  time  of  the  Danish  invasion  of 
the  eleventh  century  there  was  in  this  abbey  an  altar  to  St.  Nicholas. 
Under  it  the  abbot  concealed  the  relics  of  St.  Alban.^^  Finally, 
Geofifrey,  the  author  of  the  Dunstable  St.  Catherine  play,  was  from 
Normandy,^*   a   district   in   which   the   cult   of    St.    Nicholas    was 

"M.  Paris,  op.  cit.,  p.  1005.  Under  Richardus  decimus  quinttis,  1097-1119 
he  writes:  "Hie  suscepit  curam  pastoralem,  post  mortem  venerabilis  Pauli 
Abbatis,  determinata  lite,  quae  in  Conventu  exorta  fuerat,  inter  Normannos 
(qui  jam  multiplicati  involuerunt)  &  Anglos  (qui  jam  senescentes  &  im- 
minuti  occubuerant)  post  mortem  dicti  Pauli  Abbatis,  Anno  quinto  sequente, 
tempore  Willielmi  Regis  secundi,  Anno  videlicet  Gratiae,  M.  XC.  VII.  Hie 
ab  egregia  Normannorum  stirpe  trahens  originem,  plurimorum  tarn  Parentum 
quam  Amicorum  fruebatur  alloquiis  fovebatur  obsequiis,  &  sustentabatur 
auxiliis." 

^^ Ibid.,  p.  1006:  "Ad  ejus  (Richardi)  quoq.  titulum  spectat  immortalem 
quod  ecclesiam  beati  Albani  quam  praedecessor  ejus  Paulus  fabricaverat  im- 
mediatus,  magnifici  fecit  dedicari  anno  gratiae  M.  C.  XV.  ab  Archiepiscopo 
Rothomagensi  Gaufredo." 

"  M.  Paris,  ibid.,  p.  996:  "Iste  (Alfricus)  visioiie  praemonitus  sancti 
Albani,  quam  nunc  cantator  composuit  Historiam,  et  eidem  Notam  melicam 
adaptavit:  &  auctoritate  fratris  sui  Archiepiscopi,  multis  locis  Angliae 
fecit  publicari,  diemque  ejusdem  Martyris  honorari.  Statuens  ut  die  Jovis 
(nisi  praeoccupatur  legitimis  temporibus)  missa  de  ipso  cum  pertinentiis, 
solemniter  celebretur."  This  Alfric  was  the  second  of  that  name  at  St. 
Albans. 

"  M.  Paris,  ibid.:  "In  cujus  (Alfrici)  tempore,  se  praeparaverunt  Dani 
cum  rege  suo,  hostiliter  Angliam  intrare,  ipsam  feraliter  vastaturi,  vel  suo 
denominatui  subjugaturi.  Quod  cum  Anglis  innotuit,  experti  saepe  feroci- 
tatem  earum  &  avaritiam,  timuerunt  valde,  quia  Regem  habebant  pacificum 
&  imbellem.  Praeparaverunt,  igitur  arma,  civitates  cum  castris  communientes, 
&  thesauros  suos  abscondentes.  Abbas  igitur  Alfricus,  fecit  reliquias  Sancti 
Albani,  muro  quodam  salvo  &  secreto,  cum  feretro  recondi,  scilicet  sub 
Altari  Sancti  Nicholai." 

"  M.  Paris,  op.  cit.,  Vide  supra,  chap,  i,  p.  5. 


76  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

especially  active  during  this  period;  and  he  belonged  to  the  secular 
clerks,  who  were  leaders  in  literary  innovations  of  the  sort  that 
interest  us. 

Before  inquiring  into  the  subject  of  our  St.  Catherine  play,  I 
give  in  summary  her  legend  as  compiled  by  Metaphrastes  :^^  St. 
Catherine,  a  Christian  girl  of  eighteen,  learned  in  philosophy  be- 
yond the  scholars  of  her  day,  lived  in  Alexandria  at  the  time  of  the 
Emperor  Maximinus.  During  his  reign  he  sent  out  an  edict  that 
all  his  subjects  should  appear  with  sacrifices  and  worship  the  god 
of  their  country.  St.  Catherine,  from  her  house,  heard  the  noise 
outside  of  people  coming  to  worship ;  aroused,  she  hastened  to  the 
Emperor,  and  boldly  spoke  against  his  gods  and  in  behalf  of  the 
true  God.  He  was  unable  to  argue  against  her  successfully,  but 
had  her  imprisoned,  and  sent  .out  another  edict  ordering  the  wisest 
men  of  the  land  to  appear  and  defend  the  religion  of  his  gods.  On 
the  day  appointed  they  came.  But  as  a  result  of  a  dramatic  debate, 
in  which  Catherine  quoted  in  her  defense  passages  from  Homer, 
Plato,  and  the  Sibyl,  prophesying  the  birth  of  Christ,  she  overcame 
them  all,  and  persuaded  them,  fifty  in  number,  to  accept  her  belief. 
The  Emperor,  enraged,  ordered  them  burned  to  death  at  once. 

On  the  evening  of  the  same  day  some  of  the  pious  who  went  out 
to  collect  the  remains  of  the  martyrs  found  the  bodies  sound  and 
whole,  not  a  hair  consumed.  Then  Maximinus  tried  to  win  Cath- 
erine over  by  flattery  and  promises ;  but  since  he  was  unsuccessful 
in  this,  he  ordered  her  flogged  and  thrown  into  prison  again.  Soon 
Augusta,  his  wife,  heard  of  this  defender  of  Christianity,  and 
through  the  assistance  of  Porphyrius,  the  general  of  the  army,  vis- 
ited her  in  prison  one  night.  As  a  result,  the  Empress,  Porphyrius, 
and  the  soldiers  were  converted.  After  some  time  the  Emperor  had 
St.  Catherine  brought  before  him  again.  When  despite  his  com- 
mand she  refused  to  renounce  faith  in  the  true  God,  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  a  prefect,  he  ordered  made,  as  an  instrument  of  torture,  a 

^°  See  Patrologia  Graecia,  Vol.  CXVI,  cols.  275-302.  (Latin  translation  by 
Surius).  Cf.  also  Mombritius,  Sanctiiarhim  sen  Vitae  Sanctorum  (Paris, 
1910),  Vol.  I,  pp.  283-287;  and  Aiirea  Legenda  (ed.  Dr.  Th.  Graesse,  1890), 
pp.  789-797,  and  Anal.  Bolland.  (1907),  Vol.  XXVI,  pp.  12-32  for  Latin  tr. 
of  Arabic  life  closely  related  to  early  Greek  texts.  Concerning  Metaphrastes, 
his  period,  etc.,  see  Schaff-Herzog,  Encyc.  of  Religious  Knowledge  (191 0. 
Vol.  X,  pp.  414-416. 


ST.  CATHERINE  AND  HER  PLAY 


77 


four-wheeled  car  with  each  wheel  having  nails  pointing  outward, 
and  threw  her  in  front  of  this.  It  passed  over  her  without  doing 
any  harm,  for  an  angel  protected  her;  but  it  killed  many  infidels 
standing  near.  Just  at  this  time  the  Empress  ran  out  from  the 
palace,  ordered  the  council  dismissed,  and  the  persecution  stopped. 
The  Emperor  did  stop  long  enough  to  have  his  wife  put  under  the 
most  brutal  and  fiendish  tortures,  and  then  beheaded.  Upon  a 
protest  from  Porphyrius  because  of  this  atrocious  deed,  he  had  him 
and  his  soldiers  put  to  death  also.  Finally,  on  November  25th  St. 
Catherine  was  beheaded.  At  the  execution,  milk  instead  of  blood 
flowed  from  her  body.  As  already  stated,  angels  carried  her  re- 
mains to  Mt.  Sinai. 

This  is  the  legend  of  St.  Catherine.  Furthermore,  it  is  essen- 
tially all  that  is  included  in  any  of  the  early  lives  of  her.  There 
are  dififerences  or  additions  in  regard  to  minor  details  in  some  ver- 
sions, but  no  episodes  are  added.^^ 

The  feature  of  St.  Catherine's  legend  is  clearly  her  martyrdom 
with  its  double  interest,  her  trial  and  her  passion.  This  is  the 
theme  of  hymns  in  her  honor,^^  of  lections  on  her  feast  day.  Fur- 
ther, this  is  the  popular  theme  in  later  St.  Catherine  plays.^^  The 
logical  conclusion,  then,  is  that  just  as  the  distinctive  legends  of 

"  For  the  most  complete  study  of  her  legends,  see  Hermann  Kunst,  Ge- 
schichte  der  Legenden  der  h.  Katlierina  von  Alexandrien,  usw.  (Halle,  1890). 
See  also  Hermann  Varnhagen,  Zur  Geschichte  der  Legenden  der  Kathenna 
von  Alexandrien  (Erlangen,  1891)  ;  H.  Varnhagen,  same  title:  reprinted  from 
Festschrift  der  Universitdt  Erlangen  (1901),  pp.  1-14.  For  best  brief  sum- 
mary regarding  legend  and  festival  see  Kellner,  op.  cit.,  pp.  228-229.  The 
legend  of  St.  Catherine's  conversion  is  evidently  a  thirteenth  or  fourteenth 
century  addition:    see  Varnhagen,  op.  cit.  (1891),  pp.  18  flf. 

"  Hymns  in  her  honor  seem  to  be  exceedingly  rare  for  the  eleventh 
century.  I  have  found  the  two  by  Alphanus  (loc.  cit.),  and  one  in  Mone, 
op.  cit.,  Vol.  HI,  pp.  349-350.  With  regard  to  the  lections,  even  the  Sarum 
Breviary,  ut  sup.  Fasciculus  HI  (Proprium  Sanctorum,  cols.  1104-1116, 
which  is  of  the  sixteenth  century,  stresses  only  the  feature  of  her  life 
mentioned  above. 

"Many  of  the  references  to  lost  plays  on  St.  Catherine,  as  in  the  case 
of  this  one,  are  vague.  For  references  see  E.  K.  Chambers,  op.  cit.,  Vol.  H, 
appendix  W;  L.  Petit  de  Julleville,  Les  Mystcres,  Vol.  H,  pp.  1-185;  and  H. 
Varnhagen,  op.  cit.,  1901,  pp.  13-14.  Wilh.  Creizenach,  op.  cit..  Vol.  I,  pp. 
125-126  gives  a  summary  of  the  German  Katherine  play,  which  includes  her 
first  appearance  before  the  Emperor,  her  trial,  and  her  martyrdom. 


78  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

St.  Nicholas,  St.  Lazarus,  and  St.  Paul  were  the  ones  dramatized  on 
their  feast  days,  so  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt  this  feature  was  the 
one  dramatized  in  honor  of  St.  Catherine.^®  The  play  may  have 
been  only  of  the  trial,  or  only  of  the  passion,  or  it  may  have  in- 
cluded both.  The  only  definite  suggestion  from  Matthew  Paris  is 
his  reference  to  the  copes  borrowed  from  St.  Albans.  "Ad  quae 
decoranda,  petiit  a  sacrista  Sancti  Albania  ut  sibi  Cape  chorales  ac- 
commodarentur,  &  obtinuit."  This  suggests  a  number  of  partici- 
pants, and  the  formal  costuming  which  one  would  expect  in  connec- 
tion with  the  trial  scene.-"  However  that  may  be,  it  is  important  to 
bear  in  mind  that  beyond  a  reasonable  doubt  the  play,  in  harmony 
with  the  fashion  already  instituted,  dramatized  the  dominant  feature 
of  St.  Catherine's  feast  day  celebration. 

As  to  form,  it  was  undoubtedly  composed  in  Latin  verse,  possibly 
with  French  refrain.  Geoffrey  was  a  product  of  French  schools. 
His  play  was  in  harmony  with  a  fashion  instituted  there;  and  the 
burden  of  proof  rests  with  him  who  holds  that  its  form  was  not  in 
accordance  with  that  prevailing  in  similar  plays  on  the  continent. 

^*This  subject  would  have  made  a  special  appeal  to  the  people  in  the 
district  of  St.  Albans,  for  St.  Alban  was  the  first  English  martyr:  see  Bede, 
Eccl.  Hist.,  Bk.  I.  chap.  vii. 

^As  a  matter  of  pure  speculation,  one  wonders  whether  the  fire  which 
destroyed  Geoffrey's  books  and  the  copes  (vide  supra,  chap,  i,  p.  5-.  footnote) 
originated  in  connection  with  the  play. 


SUMMARY  OF  EVIDENCE 

The  evidence  in  the  preceding  pages  points  to  the  following  con- 
clusions : 

1.  The  Miracle  Play  originated  in  musical  services  as  an  un- 
ecclesiastical  feature  of  St.  Nicholas'  feast  day  celebration. 

2.  It  is  indebted  for  its  form  primarily  to  hymns  in  honor  of 
saints. 

3.  It  originated  and  developed  in  connection  with  monastic 
schools/  and  in  connection  with  patron  saints,  not  of  particular 
professions,  but  of  particular  monasteries  .or  localities. 

4.  It  is  the  application  of  the  dramatic  method  to  the  legend 
or  legends  which  expressed  the  distinctive  feature  of  the  particular 
saint's  life  in  connection  with  the  feast  day  celebration. 

5.  It  is  a  product  of  the  mediaeval  renaissance,  which  was  most 
active  in  Normandy  and  the  Loire  valley;  and  in  form  and  spirit  it 
is  essentially  a  French  creation. 

6.  It  is  one  expression  of  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  century 
movement  to  free  the  drama  from  the  church.- 

*  Doubtless  if  the  evidence  were  complete,  one  would  find  that  it  became 
an  important  feature  also  in  cathedral  schools  (cf.  following  footnote). 

^  Related  to  this  type  in  that  particular  are  the  Daniel,  composed  by  the 
students  of  the  cathedral  school  at  Beauvais,  ca.  1140  (see  E.  de  Coussemaker, 
Les  Drames  Liturgiques,  pp.  69  ff.),  and  the  plays  referred  to  by  Gerhoh 
von  Reichersperg,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  theologians  of  the  twelfth 
century.  The  spirit  of  the  former  is  well  summarized  by  Professor  Meyer 
(Fragm.  Burana,  p.  56)  :  "Gerade  das  Danielspiel  ist  ein  schones  Erzeugniss 
der  reinen  Freude  an  Wohllaut  in  Worten  und  Tonen."  Regarding  the  latter, 
Gerhoh  von  Reichersperg  wrote  in  the  second  half  of  the  twelfth  century 
concerning  conditions  relative  to  feast  day  plays  in  the  cathedral  school  at 
Augsburg,  when  he  had  been  teacher  there  in  11 19  (F.  L.,  Vol.  CXCIV,  cols. 
890-891)  :  Cum  neque  in  refectorio  (fratres)  comederent  exceptis  rarissimis 
festis,  maxime  in  quibus  Herodem  repraesentarent  Christie  persecutoreni, 
parvulorum  interfectorem  seu  ludis  aliis  aut  spectaculis  quasi  theatralibus  ex- 
hibendis  comportaretur  symbolum  ad  faciendum  convivium  in  refectorio  aliis 
pene  omnibus  temporibus  vacuo.  Cogor  hie  reminisci  propriac  stultitiae  in 
amaritudine  animae  meae  dolens  et  poenitens,  quod  non  semel  talibus  insaniis 
non  solum  interfui;  sed  etiam  praefui  utpote  Magister  scholarum  et  doctor 
juvenum,  quibus  ad  istas  vanitates  non  solummodo  frenum  laxavi,  sed  etiam 
stimulum  addidi  pro  affectu  stultitiae,  quo  tunc  infectus  eram,  et  in  quo  supra 
multos   coaetaneos   meos   profeceram."     It   is   significant   to    recall,   in   this 


8o  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

7.  It  should  probably  include  among  the  preserved  plays  of  this 
type,  in  addition  to  the  St.  Nicholas  group,  the  Latin  St.  Paul  and 
Lazarus  plays. 

8.  The  St.  Catherine  Miracle  Play  of  Dunstable  in  its  origin 
had  a  close  and  essential  relation  to  the  early  St.  Nicholas  plays. 

connection,  that  the  writer,  shortly  before  teaching  at  Augsburg,  and  assisting 
in  the  plays  there  (cf.  "etiam  praefui,  etc.,"  above),  had  studied  at  Hildes- 
heim  (cf.  Cath.  Encyc,  Vol.  VI,  p.  472)  the  home  of  the  eleventh  century 
St.  Nicholas  plays,  and  that  the  Holy  Innocents  were  regarded  as  the  first 
martyrs  or  saints. 


INDEX  OF  BIBLIOGRAPHY  IN  FOOTNOTES* 


Acta  Sanctorum,  45. 

Allen,  P.  S.,  12,  41. 

American  Historical  Reviciv,  12. 

Analecta  BGllandiana,  2. 

Analecta  Hymnica,  15. 

Anz,  H.,  65. 

Anzeiger  f.  Kunde  d.  dent.  Vorzeit,  8. 

Baudot,  J.,  25. 

Bede,  36. 

Bedier,  J.,  44. 

Bibliotheca  Hagiographica  Latina,  45. 

Blume,  Clemens,  15. 

Bohnstedt,  Kurt.  K.  Rud.,  22. 

Brehier,  L.,  31,  33. 

Bulaeus,  C.  E.,  20. 

Catal.     Codd.     Hag  log.     Bibl.     Reg. 

Bruxel.,  2. 
Catal.  Codd.  Hagiog.  Bibl.  Nat.,  45. 
Catholic  Encyclopaedia,  19. 
Chambers,  E.  K.,  3. 
Champollion  Figeac,  9. 
Chevalier,  Ul.,  48,  57. 
Cloetta,  Wilh.,  6. 
CoUette,  L'Abbe  A.,  33. 
Collier,  J.  P.,  20. 
Coussemaker,  E.  de,  8. 
Creizenach,  Wilh.,  3,  18. 
Daniel,  H.  A.,  45. 
Dreves,  H.  M.  and  Blume,  Clemens, 

45- 
Du  Cange,  4. 
Duckett,    G.   F.,   55- 
Du  Meril,  i,  58. 
Diimimler,  E.,  8. 
English  Historical  Review,  39. 
Encyclopaedia  Brittanica,  11. 
Fagniez,  W.  G.,  37. 
Fitzstephen,  Wm.,  7. 
Fragmenta  Burana,  43. 
Francesco  Nitti  di  Vito,  45. 


Gallia   Cltristiania,   47. 

Garnett,  Richard.   10. 

Gautier,  L.,  37. 

Guibert  de  Nogent,  30. 

Hilarii  Versus  et  Ludi,  g. 

Hist.  Litt.  de  la  France,  16. 

Hroswitha,  12. 

Jehan  le  Marchant,  4. 

Jacobus  de  Voragine,  48. 

Julleville,  L.  Petit  de,  6,  30. 

Kellner,  K.  A.  H.,  25. 

Knust,  H.,  77. 

Kurtz,  J.  H.,  26. 

Lange,   C,    10. 

Lanson,  G,  44. 

Lefranc,  A.,  30. 

Legcnda  Aurea,  48. 

Liber  Miraculorum  Sancti  Fides,  28. 

Lindner,  Th.,  40. 

Maitre,  Leon,  39. 

Manly,  J.  M.,  7,  12. 

Marignan,  A.,  25. 

Mombritius,  76. 

Mooie,  F.  J.,  45. 

Meyer,  Wilh.,  43,  60. 

Mon.  Germ.  Hist.,  Script.,  27. 

Morel,  P.  Gall,  8. 

Mussafia,  A.,  4. 

Orderic  Vitalis,  29. 

Paris,  M.,  5. 

Patrologia  Graccia,  76. 

Patrologia  Latina,  30. 

Pertz,  29. 

Rashdall,  Hastings,  21. 

Recueil  des  Historiens  des  Croisadcs, 

46. 
Richer,  40. 
Sackur,  Ernst,  39. 
Sarum  Breviary,  66. 
Schofield,  W.  H.,  41- 


*Page  citation  is  made  to  the  first  reference  to  bibliographical  item.  As 
a  rule,  separate  articles  in  encyclopaedias,  etc.,  are  not  listed.  Occasionally, 
both  the  man  and  his  work  or  compilation  are  cited. 


82  NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 

Schubiger,  P.  A.,  36.  Ward,  A.  W.,  7. 

Sepet,  M.,  58.  Warren,  F.  M.,  29. 

Suchier,  H.,    13.  Wattenbach.  W.,  40. 

Thalhofer,   H.,  25.  Weydig,   O.,   i. 

Vanhagen,  H.,  'j'j.  Wright,   Thomas,   8. 

Wace,  La  Vie  de  Saint  Nicholas,  3.  Zeitschr.  f.  d.  Alt.,  8. 


INDEX  TO  THE  MORE  IMPORTANT  NAMES,  PLACES,  TITLES 

AND  MATTERS 


Abelard,  9  11.,  14  n.,  16,  41,  42. 

Ad  Petrtnn  Ahaclardum,  16. 

Ainard,  37,  64. 

Albans,  St.,  4  n.,  21,  48.  yz,  74,  78. 

Allen,  P.  S.,  12,  41  n. 

Angers,  42,  49,  f.,  66,  70. 

Anz.,  H.  65. 

Autun,  68  f. 

Bari,  Italy,  45. 

Becket,  Thomas,  7. 

Bedier,   J.,   44. 

Bernard  de  Quincey,  38. 

Bernward,   29,    65. 

Bertin,   St.,   38. 

Blume,  Clement,  15,  43. 

Bodel.   Jean,   2,   3. 

Brehier,  J.,  31,  33,  J2- 

Bulaeus,  C.  E.,  20,  21,  22. 

Catherine,  St.,  2,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  11,  17, 

18  n.,  20,  21,  23,  25,  34,  37,  41,  57. 

67,  72  ff. 
Chambers,  E.  K.,  3  n.,  18  n.,  77  n. 
Chanson  de  Geste,  44. 
Charitas,  St.,  51,   55   f. 
Christmas  Play,  18  n.,  67,  70. 
Cloetta.   Wilh.,  6  n. 
Clugnet,  Leon,  34. 
Cluniac,  39,  55,  69,  74. 
Collette,  L'Abbe,  36,  37,  43. 
Collier,   J.    P.,   20. 
Coussemaker,  E.  de,  59,  69,  71. 
Creizenach,  Wilh.,  3  n..   18  n.,  41   n., 

77   n. 
Crusades,  31. 
Daniel,   14  n.,   17. 
De  Papa   Scholastico,   16. 
Dowry,  Play,  8,  57,  61. 
Du  Cange,  4  n.,  52  n. 
Du  Meril,  E.,  14  n. 
Dijmmler,  E.,  8  n. 
Dunstable,  6,   11,  75. 
Easter  Play,   18  n.,  67,  70. 
Einsicdein,  8,  47,  61  ff. 
Evolution,  theory  of  in  drama,  9  ff. 


Fagniez,  G.,  37  f. 

Farced  Epistle  in  relation  to  drama, 

2  n.,  13,  14.  15,  17- 
Fides,  St.,  8,  28,  32,  50  n. 
Fitzstephen,  Wm.,  6,  7,  10. 
Fleury,  i,  8,  48,  57.  61  ff.,  67ff.  7i- 
Gall,  St.,  36. 
Gamett,  Richard,  9,  13. 
Geoffrey  of  St.  Albans,  5,  6,  9,  21,  41. 

61,  64,  74,  75,  78. 
Gerbart  of  Rhcims,  40  n. 
Gerhoh  von  Reichersperg,  79. 
Getron  and  Eiiphrosina,  9,  58. 
Guibert  de  Nogent,  30. 
Helena,  St.,  31. 

Hezllo,  Bishop  of  Hildersheim,  40,  65. 
Hilarius,  9,   13,   14  n.,   16,  41,  42,  59. 

61,  64,  67,  70. 
Hilarius,  his  Daniel,  70. 
Hildesheim,  8,  15,  i9,  22,  29,  38  "■•  40, 

47,  57,  61  ff.,  65,  66.  69,  71- 
Hroswitha,  li,  12. 
Hymns,  36,  37  n..  43,  57,   58,   59,  60. 

64,  66.  77- 
Isembert,  37,  57,  58  n.,  64.  73,  74- 
Jacobus  de  Voragine,  19,  55  n. 
James,  St.,  32. 
John  the  Baptist,  34. 
Julleville,  Petit  dc.  6  n..  30,   34.   59. 

69,  71- 
Kellner,  K.  A.  H.,  26  n.,  32,  35  n.,  70. 
Lanfranc,  41,  42. 
Lazarus,  13,  14,  n.,  34,  67  ff.,  78. 
Lcgenda  Aurea,  19,  55  "• 
Lindner,  Th.,  40  n. 
Liturgical  play,  10,  13,  17.  59.  61. 
Liturgical    associations,    10,    13. 
Loci  cancti  (St.  Nicholas).  46  ff. 
Maitre,  Leon,  39,  64. 
Manly,  J.  M.,  3  n..  4  n.,  7.  10,  12. 
Marignan.  .'\.,  25  n.,  27,  29  "•.  3.'- 
Martial,  St.,  34,  67. 
Martin.  St.,  29,  32,  34,  65,  67. 
Mary,  Virgin,  6,  33,  34- 


84 


NEW  THEORY  CONCERNING  ORIGIN  OF  MIRACLE  PLAY 


Mej'er,  Wilh.,  43,  64,  79. 

Miracle  Play,  i-io,  14,  17,  20,  22,  23, 

24,  25,  36,  37,  39,  40,  45,  51,  56, 

58,  60,  64,  65,  79- 
Monasteries,  medi.'eval,  24,  ^y  ff.,  72. 

73- 

Monastic  literary  drama,  li. 
Monumenta      Gennanicr      Historica 

Scriptorurn,  23. 
Morality,  4. 
Nicholas,  St..  i,  2,  6,  8,  11,  13,  14  n., 

15,  17,  18,  19,  20,  22,  23,  24,  25,  34, 

37,  38  n.,  41,  45  ff.,  56,  60  ff.,  64, 

67,  71,  72,  74,  75,  78. 
Myra,  Asia  Minor,  45. 
Nerra,  Fulk,  49. 

Notre  Dame,  miracles  of,  4,  23n. 
O  Christi  Pietas,  57,  62n. 
Odo  of  Orleans,  41,  42,  64. 
Orderic  Vitalis,  29  n.,  50,  74,  76. 
Paris,  Matthew,  5,  21,  42,  74,  78. 
Paul,  St.,  34,  67  ff.,  70  ff.,  78. 
Plays,  time  of  presentation  of,  57  n. 
Poncelet,  A.,  72  n. 
Rashdall,  Hastings,  21,  22. 
Renaissance,  Mediaeval,  40  ff.,  60,  64, 

66,  74. 
Representacio,  3  n. 
Richer,  40  n. 
Robbers,  play  of  8  ff. 
Rome,  32. 

Rouen,  37,  48,  57,  64,  72,  73,  74,  75. 
Rustebeuf,  4,  6  n. 
Saints, 

cult  of,  25,  26  ff.,  30,  45  ff.,  66. 


feast  days  of,  13,  32  ff.,  36  n.,  39, 

61,   66. 

legends  of,  12. 

lives  of,  17. 

Oriental,  33,  72. 

relics  of,  27  ff. 

pilgrimages  to  shrines  of,  30  ff., 

50,  73- 

translations  of,  28,  29,  45  ff.,  68, 

70. 
Schofield,  W.  H.,  41  n. 
Scholars,   play  and   legend  of,  8,  22, 

57,  61. 
School  saints,  13,  14,  17  ff.,  22,  39,  66. 
School  play,  17. 
Symeon,  72,  73. 
Sepet,  58.  59,  71. 
Sponsus,  play  of,  17. 
Stephen,  St.,  2  n.,  4,  14,  15. 
Suchier,  H.,  13,  14,  58,  59. 
Terence,  11. 
Trope,  15  n.,  37  n.,  61. 
Tunison,  J.,  12. 
Unecclesiastical  influences,  24,  35, 

40  ff.,  56,  57,  60,  66,  76. 
Vernacular,  employment  of,  etc.,   13, 

14,  IS,  16,  17. 
Vincent,  St.,  28. 
Wace,  3,  19,  22. 
Ward,  A.  W.,  7  n.,  11. 
Warren,  F.  M.,  29. 
Wattenbach,  W.,  40. 
Weydig,  Otto,  i  ff.,  17,  18  n.,  20  n.,  23, 

33,  59,  61,  64. 
Young,  Karl,  15  n. 


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(P6572sl0)476-A-32 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

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U.C,  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


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